To Do What You've Never Done - TMNT 2012
by Bramblemask973
Summary: When a confrontation with one of his brothers leads to a fight neither of them would have thought could go so far, Raph vanishes. Raphael has made a mistake that could change the war for the worse. Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo and April O'Neil take it upon themselves to set things right. To pull their family back together. Before the Shredder tears them apart.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"MIKEY!"

Leo flinched and missed Donatello by a good foot. Donnie jumped back and straightened up, looking back towards the living room. Both brothers cringed as another yell rang out.

"MIKEY! Get out here so I can bash your head back into your shell!"

Leonardo sighed and met Donnie's eyes. Donatello shrugged and nodded towards the archway. Leo nodded and walked out into the living room hesitantly, followed by Donnie. Both turtles shared the same confused but exasperated look.

The two jumped in surprise as Michelangelo shot out from the kitchen walkway. Mikey squeaked and crouched behind Leo. He held a fearful and innocent look on his face, but knowing Mikey, he wasn't. Mikey cringed as Raphael appeared from searching around the arcade machine. His green eyes narrowed dangerously as he spotted his youngest brother. He was positively livid, teeth bared in a growl and clutching a single sai in his hand.

Mikey yelped and flipped over to hide behind the TV. Raph snarled and rushed for him, but not before Donatello snatched his arm just in time to hold him back. Leo grabbed the other arm to restrain his furious brother from pulverizing the other. Donnie and Leo had to dig in their heels big time to hold Raph back.

Raphael tried to throw them off and accidentally stomped on Donnie's foot. Donnie yelped and held back an angry snap. Leo grunted and fought to keep Raph back.

"Raph! Calm the heck down, what is wrong with you?!"

Raphael flung his head around and glared at him. He managed to free his hand and shoved it accusingly towards Michelangelo.

"What's wrong with _me_?! What's wrong with _him_!? He snapped the handle off of my sai, that's what's wrong!"

Mikey popped out from his hiding place and winced at the look he got.

"I didn't know it was gonna break! Your weapons shouldn't be so fragile!"

Raph snarled and snapped his head back to him, doubling his efforts to crush him.

"_FRAGILE_?! I'll show you _fragile_! If I get a hold of you, you are so gonna regret being mutated, Mikey!"

Leo exchanged a frantic glance with Donnie, who mouthed 'Do something!'

Raph looked angrily back at Leo as his blue masked brother put a firm hand on his shoulder. Leo got that sort of squareness in his shoulders that showed how he knew he was leader. 'Leader' didn't mean anything to Raph; he could still beat him any day.

"Raph, calm down. You don't have to tear Mikey to shreds over it. Donnie can fix your sai in no time, _right Donnie_?"

Donnie smirked. "It's a simple reattachment. Of course I can. Don't worry about it, Raph. I'll fix it good as new."

Leo looked back at Raph. The green eyes flicked over them both, still holding his natural flare. He growled and relaxed as much as he ever did.

"_Fine_."

Donnie looked at Leo and they let go of Raph's arms. Raphael rolled his shoulders and passed the broken sai to Donnie. Like he had said, the handle was snapped clean off of the forks. Donnie peered at it closely, smiled then vanished into his lab.

Raph stomped off to the kitchen without a word or a look to Mikey. Mikey hesitated but emerged from hiding and walked up to Leo. Leo gave him a look, to which the younger turtle answered with an apologetic grin and then avoided his eyes. Leo gave him a swat over the back of the head.

"Mikey, how stupid are you?! You don't just mess with Raph's weapons, you shell-brain!"

Mikey sighed and nodded. He scuffed the floor with a toe. "I couldn't find the bottle opener, and it was just sitting there…"

Leo slapped his forehead. "You used it as a _bottle opener_?"

Mikey grinned and looked at him from the top of his eyes.

"You know you're gonna have to talk to him, right?"

The orange masked brother jumped. His eyes snapped wide and he looked up at Leo with a mixture of fear and shock.

"_What_?! I'm not going in there! He'll tear me apart!"

Leo shrugged and crossed his arms. "You got yourself into this. I can't help you get out."

Mikey gulped and looked back at the kitchen walkway. Leo took a deep breath and let it out, then walked over to the TV to watch his favorite show, Space Heroes. Mikey was on his own for this one.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Raphael was inside, head in hands. He murmured to Spike as the unmutated turtle chewed silently on his leaf. Mikey couldn't hear what he was saying. He felt an urge to tease him but decided this wasn't the time.

"Raph?"

Raph raised his head from his palms and looked away from Mikey. Michelangelo bit his lip and placed his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels.

"I'm really sorry I broke your sai, Raph. I didn't mean to."

The angry turtle didn't reply. He looked back at Mikey from the corner of his eye, studying him. Mikey saw the green and felt he was almost back across the safe line. If it even existed anymore.

Mikey took a breath and removed his nunchucks from his belt. He hesitated but then tossed them to his brother. Raph's eyes opened wider in surprise and question as he caught them instinctively. He looked at them and back up at Mikey, turning in his chair to face his younger sibling. Still, he didn't say a word.

Mikey shrugged and scuffed the floor again with his foot, lowering his eyes. "You can snap them. It's fair. I broke your sai. Weapon for a weapon."

Raph looked back down at the nunchucks. He narrowed his eyes and unfolded them. Mikey cringed, waiting for the snap of metal. Instead, the snap came from the weapon hitting his shoulder. He picked up the weapon and looked up at Raph in surprise, rubbing his shoulder.

Raph shrugged and stood up. He gave a rare, caring smile and crossed his arms.

"Hey, I might be mad, but I'm not gonna snap your nunchucks for it. We might need those."

Mikey grinned and jumped forward, clamping his arms around Raph. Raph's pleasant look vanished faster than a cat in the rain and he pushed Mikey away.

"I only said I wouldn't break your nunchucks. I never said _hug_."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Donnie came out of his lab, twirling Raph's sai in his hand. Raphael saw him and jumped up from his bean chair.

Donnie smiled and tossed the sai to its owner. Raph caught it and held it up.

"There you go, Raph. Like I said, good as new."

Raph half-smiled and took out the other sai. He twirled them around a few times and practiced a move or two. It felt alright. He twirled it and placed them back into his belt.

"Thanks, Don."

Donnie waved a hand and then raised a finger as the telltale birdsong ringtone he had for April went off. He took out his T-Phone and clicked it on.

"H-h-he-hey-hey, hey, April."

Raph's smile faded and he waved the other two over as Donnie's expression changed from glee to a fearful determination. Leo raised an eyebrow and glanced at Raph, who shrugged and looked back to Donatello.

"Hang tight, April, we'll be right there, okay?"

Donnie hung up and replaced the phone. He snatched up his bō staff and sheathed it behind his back, then faced Leo.

"April's at her place. She says the Purple Dragons and Dogpound are roaming around her street. She can't come out and come here because they know what she looks like and that's she's with us. She said they're just standing there. I don't like the feel of this."

Leo straightened his shoulders and sheathed his katanas. He looked around at his brothers.

"We don't have a choice, we're gonna have to drive them off. If they get a hold of April, this could all go downhill. They'll figure out where the lair is and they'll find Sensei. We can't let that happen."

Raph smirked and straightened his bandana around his eyes.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go play rescue with Don's girlfriend."

"_She's not my_-!"

"Nobody cares. Come on!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Green eyes lined with red poked out behind blue and blue. Raph glanced back as Don and Mikey dropped down to join them. He looked back around the corner. His eyes narrowed as he saw Dogpound. The mutant canine was just standing there, looking around with the air of a hunter waiting for an ambush. The three Purple Dragons stood around him, looking terrified. One of them muttered something, and then flinched as Dogpound looked behind him with a snarl.

"This is the place. They'll be here. Any second…"

Leo looked back at the others. Raphael clenched his teeth and took out his sai. He heard Mikey whirl his nunchucks in anticipation while Donnie groaned and took out his bō staff.

"Leo, they're waiting for us."

Leo nodded, a grim look in his eyes.

"I know. Look, let's just wait for a sec. Maybe they'll leave on their own."

Raph sniffed disbelievingly and looked back around the corner. Dogpound's ear flicked and he suddenly snapped his head around.

"They're here."

Raph cringed back against the wall. He caught the sound of an oncoming vehicle and peered back around. Dogpound had braced himself for impact, ready to attack. But the thing was, he was facing the other way.

In a blur, the Kraang's van sped around the corner. It hit the brakes, but a second too late. Dogpound grinned and flipped the van easily with a foot. It clicked for Raph. They weren't waiting for the turtles. They were waiting for the Kraang!

Kraangdroids spilled out from the back of the van, disguised and not, but all armed. They took a second to examine their assailant and then attacked. Within a millisecond, there were lasers everywhere.

Raph flinched back as a beam seared past, nearly catching him. He smiled and twirled his sai. Leo looked at him and unsheathed his swords. They all understood what he had. Raph looked back over his shoulder and grinned.

"Can we go cream 'em now?"

Leo smirked and flipped his katanas, then nodded.

"I think so. They've waited long enough, hey?"

Raph laughed and jumped up onto a balcony held up with metal poles. He clung close to the wall, hiding in the shadows and slunk to the side, positioning himself over Dogpound. He heard the other three spread out behind him. Raph watched for a moment as Dogpound flung the last Kraang away and reached for a small glowing blue cylinder in the back of the van. Raph growled.

"Leo, they're after the mutagen!"

Leo got an expression close to Raph's normal face and he paused for a moment to get a good grip on his weapons. Without waiting for approval and giving a loud yell, Raphael leaped off of the balcony and landed right behind Dogpound, swiping and getting a few blows at him before having to jump away again. Dogpound roared and whirled around, dropping the canister and snapping at the ninja.

The sai-armed turtle lunged forward, zigzagging between Dogpound's legs. He could hear the others fighting behind him. He sidestepped around and flipped back as the mutant dog punched at him. Raph jumped and landed on the fist, jumping off again as the gigantic mouth came up. He growled and front-flipped down in front of Dogpound. Before the dog could react, Raph swiped the mutagen can high and flicked it behind him.

"Mikey!"

"_BOOYAKASHA_!"

Mikey caught it in midair and rushed off. Raph heard the warning snarl and Dogpound lunged after Mikey. Raph squared his shoulders and ran at him.

"Oh, no you don't, fleabag!"

Raph jumped up as huge jaws came down. He tried to fling himself away, but not before the overgrown hand came up and hit him square in the back, rocketing the teen into the building beside them. Raph grunted and staggered to his feet, giving his head a shake to clear the blow. He jumped back into the fight.

He suddenly stopped in midair. Huge fingers closed around him and clenched him in Dogpound's fist. Raph yelled out as he was flung into Donatello. Donnie stood up and gave Raph a quick pat on the shoulder. His eyes widened and he looked up with a cry.

"Look out!"

The two jumped apart to avoid the flying van thrown by Dogpound. Raph felt it clip his shell but didn't hesitate to roll a recovery and fling a shurikan at the giant. Dogpound growled and tore it out of the bony spike on his back. Raph grinned and jumped up.

He kicked the mutated Bradford in the chin and then in the nose. His sai came down and tore a piece of the boned hand off to clatter on the pavement. Dogpound roared in anger and placed a hand behind him to keep him steady. Raph grinned and jumped forward with a yell of his own, sai extended for a vicious attack.

The spikes tinged off the concrete and Raph rolled to a halt, and then looked up in shock. Dogpound smacked him aside with a forceful kick to the stomach, and whirled around suddenly with a Kraang electric stun baton clutched in his fist.

The pained roar that came from Raphael overcame all the other sounds of the fight. He convulsed as the electricity coursed through him, more forceful than the last time he had been shocked. That had been against the Shredder. He'd been thrown into the hotel's sign, and he thought nothing could have hurt worse since. Of course, the sign probably didn't have very much electricity running through it. These stun batons were supercharged, and it was ten times worse.

"_RAPH_!"

Raph's roar turned to a scream with another two long shocks. It cut short with a kick to the chin that sent him flying across the street. He smashed into the metal pole of the balcony, which collapsed immediately under the force of the blow. The thin concrete balcony fractured and crumbled on top of him, burying him in a pile of rubble.

Raph coughed and tried to get up, but his arms shook violently and he slipped back down under the weight of the rubble. He sucked in hurting breaths, eyes closed.

_Come on! It takes more than that to bring you down! What kind of ninja are you? Get up, the other three need you! Get up!_

Yelling at himself in his head gave him a bit of determination, but he was pinned. Raph groaned and slipped down again, unable to push up through the weight. He felt his sai under his hand. He clutched it, and tried to remember the energy he'd had before.

He could just barely hear his brothers over the sound of clashing steel and yells.

"Leo! Raph's down!"

"Donnie, help him! I'll hold them off. Mikey, get the mutagen out of here and get back as fast as you can!"

"On it!"

The chunks on top of him shifted as Donatello shoved them aside to get to his brother. Raph couldn't find the energy to move. Not yet. A fracture of light from the streetlamp broke through as Donnie reached for him.

"Got him!"

Suddenly Don was thrown aside by a trio of Foots. Mikey flickered past to help.

"Guys, get Raph out of here, I can't do this forever!"

"Kind of having our own issues at the moment, Leo!"

Raphael's mind flickered. Small lengths of silence clouded his thoughts as he drifted back and forth through consciousness, striving to stay awake. He lost track of the fight. Only the voices of the rest gave him any sort of clue.

It seemed like an eternity before he felt the concrete lift off of him and hands grab him roughly. It took a split second for them to chain his hands and ankles, and then he felt the cold floor of the van beneath him.

"No! They got Raph!"

"Raph!"

Faintly he heard his brothers yelling his name as the motor started and the van sped away. A swift hit to the head with the handle of his own sai was enough to make the world around him vanish into a silent black.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Has the turtle awakened?"

"I-I'm afraid not, Master."

His head pounded like a drum. Throbbed. He had a splitting headache and his entire body hurt. The world around him slowly became reality once more.

_Where am I?_

"You should hope he awakes soon. Or there shall be more than one that I destroy tonight, Bradford."

Everything suddenly snapped back into Raph's mind. He knew those voices, he knew what had happened and he even realized where he was. Without opening his eyes, he knew that his hands were chained just by the feel of it. He was lying on his plastron, with cold steel beneath him.

Raphael opened his eyes a slit, even though he knew it was a bad idea. It was dark, but he could see the outlines of bars beside him. He must be in a cage. There was a small length of chain attached to his wrists, enough so he would be able to sit up, but not near enough to stand.

"Y-Yes, Master. I understand."

He knew those voices. Raph sighed slightly and chanced a look up. Of course.

Dogpound stood in the rather large room, kneeling in front of the Shredder. Raph couldn't see him clearly, but he knew he was there by the glint of steel and the cold voice. There weren't as many Foot Clan in the room as he would have expected. He smirked slightly. If the Shredder thought that this was enough to keep him and his brothers from getting out, then he had a surprise coming.

_Wait… Where are the others?_

Raph suddenly cringed. The last thing he remembered was them yelling his name. He was alone. Probably for the best. He didn't want any of his brothers here with him. They knew how the Shredder was, and he for sure didn't treat prisoners like guests. If there was going to be pain, (which for sure, there would be. This was the Shredder.) He didn't want anyone else to take it for him.

"Good. He needs to be awake if I am to get the information on Hamato Yoshi's whereabouts."

_Okay, time to cut in._

"You got a better chance turning lava into ice cream before that happens, buddy."

The Foot, the Shredder and Dogpound all whirled around to face the mutant. Raph grunted and pushed up into a kneeling position, then looked up. Splinter's nemesis walked over and stood in front of the cage, extending the hidden blade in his steel sleeve. Raph just looked up at him with false indifference and raised an eyebrow.

On the inside he was terrified, but he didn't need to show it. Just by the look in this dude's eyes gave him a chill down his spine.

_This is not gonna be a fun night._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Donnie jumped up onto the roof beside Mikey. Leo stared out over the city, a hopeless feeling building in his chest. He'd lost his brother. He had let Raph get taken. It was his fault. They couldn't go back to Splinter without him. It was his responsibility.

Mikey bit his lip and whined slightly.

"How are we supposed to find Raph now? They could be _anywhere_!"

"Actually," Donnie interrupted. "They're in that old garage warehouse on Houston. Second level down, in the shop."

Mikey and Leo turned and stared at him for a moment. Their mouths were open slightly and eyes wide. Mikey suddenly grinned.

"Donnie! You never told us that you turned psychic too! What am I thinking of?"

Donatello sighed and shook his head. Sometimes Mikey was just a little bit too imaginative and off track. Leo rolled his eyes. Don gave his little brother an exasperated look.

"Mikey. I'm not psychic. I just tracked his T-Phone with mine."

Leo whipped out his phone.

"We can do that?!"

"Yeah. Formatted it last week while you guys were out fooling around in the east pipes."

Leo handed Donnie his phone and within half a second he had it back in his hands, an open map of New York on it. There were five dots on it, one each if their mask colors and one yellow for Leo guessed April. He tapped twice into the red dot, which was furthest away. It zoomed in and gave a blueprint of the garage.

"Donnie, I am impressed. Don't ever stop fiddling around with this tech stuff."

Donnie smiled and looked off to the west. Lancy was over there, which meant the garage, which meant Raph. The Shredder was probably there, as well as Dogpound and Fishface. Leo looked up and put his T-Phone away.

"Let's go."

He ran and leaped across the rooftops towards the lighted streets in the distance. Mikey and Don followed without hesitation. All three of them had the same determined look. All three brothers knew what they were about to face. If getting Raph back meant taking on the Shredder and his henchman mutants... So be it.

Leo glanced back. Donnie met his eyes and gave him a small smile. Leo returned the reassurance and looked at Mikey. Michelangelo flipped over an air vent and kept on. Leo narrowed his eyes slightly. Mikey's jaw was set confidently, and somehow his eyes seemed... Older. His face seemed to lose some of the childish assets and he looked more grown up.

Leo raised an eyebrow and looked back to his target. He almost smiled. Guaranteed, as soon as they got back to the lair and it was clear that Raph would be fine, Mikey would be back to his usual annoyingly playful self. Until they got to Raph, if he needed to be more 'grown up', that was fine. For now they had one task, throughout all three minds.

_Get him back._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Raph grunted and glared up with bright green eyes. He leaned back suddenly on his hands, whipping his feet out to kick at the Foots in front of him. Feet. Whatever they were called. The stupid ninjas in black suits that fought worse than Donnie. There.

Fighting in such a confined space was difficult, especially with so little arm length. He did his best though. The Shredder was on the other side, watching as his ninjas attacked. His expression was as blank as ever. Raph gasped as a blade lunged for his side, and he flinched forward, bringing his arm up.

_SHIINGG! SNAP._

The katana sliced right through the chain like butter. Raph blinked. These blades were sharper than he thought. Leo might want to take a few notes on this one. One arm free, the turtle managed to fight even harder now, pushing the ninjas back best he could. Luckily the back of the cage was pressed to the wall, so the only attacks he could get were from where he could see.

But, as usual, there was strength in numbers rather than brute force.

A glance gave him little warning as the kick hit his jaw. Raph grunted and smacked onto his side, then whirled around and drew back his fist. His anger only grew when he saw who it was that had caught him off guard.

_I _hate_ this kid!_

Karai grinned and then stepped to the side easily as he swung at her. She grabbed his fist and brought it back behind his head, flipping him. She put a foot on his shell, pinning him on his plastron. Raph growled and struggled against the ninjas' grip as they unchained his other arm and hauled him onto his feet.

The Shredder finally stepped forward. Raph glared at him, breathing hard. Bruises patterned his body, and blood ran from cuts on his shoulder and his ankle. His eyes still held the fire from before, and it only blazed brighter with every second that passed in this shell-hole.

The armored man narrowed his eyes.

"You have sprit, I must say. I could make use of it. Hamato Yoshi will only lose in the end. You must know this. I will win. Join my forces and you might be spared."

Raph's eyes widened slightly.

_Is he... asking me to join the Foot?! How stupid is this guy?_

_Pretty stupid, apparently._

_I'm talking to myself again._

_Well, there's nobody else that'll listen. Spike's not here._

_Oh, shut up and focus._

Raph set his jaw determinedly and gritted his teeth.

"Over my dead dried out husk of a shell."

Karai smirked and walked up beside the Shredder. She leaned on one leg and put a hand on her hip.

"Think about it, Raph. I already know you have a thing against Leo. You could get back at him."

_Okay, she's just as stupid as he is._

"Not on your life." Raph snapped. The Shredder clenched his fist and whipped out the blades in his wrist cuff.

"Then it shall be on yours."

The Foot holding him still kicked the back of his knees, jolting his legs out from under him. Raph gasped and fell onto his knee pads. He gritted his teeth and glared up as the Shredder approached. He raised the blade towards the captive in front of him.

_No way, bro. Not today._

Raph resorted to what he could do without weapons and without his hands or feet. He opened his mouth and simply bit onto one of the hands holding onto his shoulders. He bit hard. He heard a yell and then the ninja jumped away, and the other grips on him loosened. Raph rolled onto his shell and kicked up, hitting the other Foot in the stomach and tossing him away.

Suddenly a crash sounded from above and shards of glass sprinkled down onto the Shredder and Raph. Raph covered his face with his arms and then looked up.

"Booyakasha!"

Leo whipped out his arm, throwing the bright white powder at the Shredder. Their Sensei's nemesis yelled and backed away, clutching his eyes. Karai jumped up in shock. Donnie and Mikey dropped down beside Raph. Mikey grinned and gave a short laugh.

"Man, that never gets old."

Raph felt a stinging pain in one eyes and his hand snapped up to it. He snapped at his older brother as he took Donnie's hand, pulling himself up.

"Watch where you fling that stuff, Leo! You got me!"

Leo rolled his eyes.

"Hey, at least we're here now."

Raph gritted his teeth and walked over to a Foot that stood on the side, frozen in shock. He grabbed his sai away from the ninja and kicked him flat out in the stomach, then turned back to his brothers, ignoring his own injuries.

"It's about time." he muttered.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Well, it looks like you've been having a party. How come I wasn't invited?" Mikey grinned, despite being surrounded by Foot, the Shredder, Karai and Dogpound. Raph secretly admired the way that he was oblivious to everything, and could see the silver lining of anything or anyone. Of course, there was no way in shell that he'd ever tell him that.

Raph backed up with his carapace to Donnie and Mikey's, with Leo on the other side. He glared around at the Foot, eyes flicking as he answered.

"Tell you what, Mikey. Next time, you can be the one that gets beat up by a mutant dog and stuck in a puny little cage for six freaking hours, nearly get your head cut of and then get hit with blinding powder by your own brother! How's that sound for a party?"

Mikey winced slightly and then burst into a sheepish grin.

"Heh..."

Donnie rolled his eyes and looked back at Leo. Karai was glaring at them all from where she stood beside the Shredder, while the army of Foot slowly circled closer in on them. Donnie flicked out his blade in his staff, preparing.

"What's the plan, Leo?"

Leo shrugged, adjusting the grip on his katanas.

"To tell the truth, I didn't really think we'd get this far."

Raph snapped his head around.

"Are you kidding me?! You don't have a plan?!"

Leo cringed and turned his head.

"Yeah, I kind of didn't think this through."

"I can see that, Leo!"

All four turned their eyes on Karai as she stepped forward and drew out her blade. The Shredder was standing a few feet behind her, and by the look of it, he was livid, and still could not see. One upside to the whole night, at least. Karai placed both hands on the handle, eyes ablaze but lips parted in a small smile.

"I know my plan is working out great."

Mikey lowered his nunchucks slightly and tipped his head.

"Since when do the Foot plan stuff out? It always seems like they just attack and have no idea what they're doing."

Donnie rolled his eyes and elbowed Mikey in the side so he'd get his nunchucks ready again. He held the end of his staff out threateningly as he hissed a reply.

"Not everybody is as disorganized as you, Mikey. Except us." Donnie sighed. "We messed up real bad this time."

Mikey shrugged just as the Foot lunged forward at Karai's signal. He bent his knees and jumped up, lashing out with his nunchucks. The turtle landed on a ninja's back and then pushed off with a hand, swinging his weapon around to knock the attacking ninjas back into their ranks. He flipped down and back kicked the Foot he had been standing on back towards the others.

Raph growled and blocked a blow from a katana, then stabbed forward with his sai and curled his arm around the Foot's wrist, throwing him forward over his head. He felt a whisk of fabric graze his shell and swung his fist around, punching the ninja clean in the chin. He smiled and twirled his sai in his fingers.

"Well this is fun."

Donnie yelled and swiped the blade of his staff towards the oncoming attackers. He jabbed one in the stomach with the other end so he didn't end up impaling them and used the momentum to turn his lunge into a roll and jumped up beside Mikey. He looked back over at Leo, whose blade flashed as he held off Karai. While his focus was off track he was hit with the blunt end of a sword and sent crashing into Mikey.

They both stood up and Donnie shook his head quickly to remind himself to concentrate. He glanced over at Mikey. The younger brother grinned and hooked his nunchucks around Donnie's staff. In a single motion, Donnie whirled around and Mikey's flying feet took out a small group of the Foot, sending them back into the shadows.

Mikey dropped down and punched another Foot in the chin. He looked back at Donnie and his eyes went wide.

"Uh, guys! This might be a good time to _get out of here_!"

Dogpound lunged forward and backhanded the young turtle into the wall. A second later, Raph was nearly thrown on top of him, but whirled just in time and kicked off of the wall, landing in front of Mikey. He helped Mikey to his feet and looked back at the battlefield, where Leo was having trouble holding off both Karai and the Foot. And now Dogpound was advancing on him, completely ignoring Donnie.

Don ducked as Dogpound shot past. He received a forceful blow to the shell and was knocked onto his plastron. He gasped and blocked his face with his hands as a blade came down on him.

"Grraah!"

Raph leaped above and tackled the Foot, knocking the sword away from Donnie. Don climbed quickly to his feet and grabbed his staff, looking back at Leo. Karai had vanished for a moment, and Dogpound was advancing on him from behind.

"Leo! Behind you!"

Leonardo glanced back and ducked to the side, feeling the bony fist graze his arm. He rolled into a recovery and stood up, slicing towards the ninjas. They had to get out of here. There were too many.

He looked out into the warzone. All four of the brothers were separated. It was only a few seconds before he saw Donnie thrown into a pile of heavy crates. The crates tumbled down, entombing him. He didn't reappear.

Leo growled and swung his foot low, knocking a few of the ninjas off of their feet. He jumped up and over the oncoming group, racing over to the boxes.

Mikey was already there, digging through the wooden shards. He pulled a bruised but at least okay Donnie from the rubble and helped him up. Donnie grunted and rubbed his head, but looked up and grabbed his broken staff from the floor.

Raph flipped over beside them. The four brothers faced their opponents, weapons drawn. Each of them had their own injuries, some worse than others. They were all tired and gasping for breath.

Leo gritted his teeth and raised his katanas, backing closer to his brothers. Raph looked over at him as the Foot regrouped, heading for their enemies once more.

"Leo, we gotta get out of here." Raph hissed. "Or we are going to have serious issues when your blinding powder wears off."

"Just... Wait a second."

Leo looked up at the skylight where they had come through. It was too high up for them to jump out. His blue eyes narrowed and flicked over to the extension cords hanging from the ceiling. He glanced around at the walls. Brick. Some decent sized nicks and chips to get a hold onto.

_That'll do._

His brothers all grouped close to hear what he was saying. Leo flicked his blade towards the cords.

"Get some traction on the walls and we can get out onto the roof if we swing on the cords. It's either that or we fight our way to the door."

"Got it."

"Mikey, Donnie. You guys first, we got this."

The two younger siblings raced for the escape route just as the Foot attacked again. Raph yelled and swiped out with his sai. His eyes narrowed slightly and he glanced back at Leo.

"Wait, didn't she say she had a-"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Donnie clung to the swinging cord and held tight. He looked down and gulped. Swinging from a thin wire thirty feet above a solid concrete floor sure wasn't the same as jumping across a rooftop. He saw Mikey jump past with a small laugh and then stop, looking back at his brother.

"Hey, Donnie! What's the matter, scared of heights?"

"I'm not 'scared of heights', Mikey. That's irrational, seeing as I'm usually on the rooftops of the highest buildings in New York. No, I would just prefer to not fall onto a concrete floor and turn into a turtle pancake."

Mikey grinned and looked down at Leo and Raph. They were holding off pretty good. He turned and swung onto the next cord, then stopped, staring at the ceiling.

_Button!_

His hand stopped an inch away from it as Donnie grabbed him from behind. Mikey glanced back at him, and Donnie glared.

"Enough with the buttons!"

Mikey rolled his eyes and jumped to the next cord. This one felt strange. It was lighter than the others and felt more like rope than an extension cord.

Donnie snatched out at the lower half of the same cord and clung tight. Both of their eyes widened suddenly as the cord jolted down a foot or two. Donnie winced and looked up. He hadn't noticed the trigger wire that ran from this rope to the corner above where the other two were fighting.

_Aw, crud._

Mikey looked down at him.

"Was that... supposed to happen?"

They both shifted their gaze to where Raph swiped out with a sai and turned back to say something to Leo.

The rope they were hanging onto snapped loose from the ceiling and Donnie yelled as the floor rushed up to meet them.

"_Watch out_!"

Leo's yell of warning mingled with Donnie's as the roof fell in on them. He jumped back towards Raph and was thrown flat on his plastron. A massive weight pressed on his shell and Leo snapped his eyes open to see the thick woven strands crisscrossing over him and his brother.

Donnie closed his eyes tight and waited for the impact, but the only one that came was from behind. He stopped falling and swung dangerously. One chocolate brown eye opened to see the floor still ten feet away. He sighed relief and looked back up.

Mikey grinned back, holding the handle end of his kusarigama. His other hand clutched the metal rafter. He had been higher up than Donatello and managed to jump off and grab a hold before the rope snapped.

Donnie sighed relief and felt his heartbeat slow as the sudden panic attack faded. He grabbed the chain wrapped around his middle and straightened up. The dust faded from the spot where the other two were still on the ground and Donnie gasped.

"Mikey! Swing me back to the cords, we have to go back down."

Mikey did as told and Donnie grabbed onto the extension cord. He looked up. No trigger wire. Quickly he grabbed hold of the end of Mikey's chain.

"Let go."

The young ninja gulped but let go of the rafter. Donnie grunted and pulled the chain tight, swinging him down. Mikey rolled a landing on the remaining crates and Donnie dropped down beside him. They looked up and ran around the other side.

Leo grunted and pushed up against the net. Man, the Foot had really thought this through. The net was thick and heavy, and weighted at the corners. Karai wasn't kidding.

"I can't..." Raph growled as he struggled against the net. "I can't... get... it... off!" He slipped suddenly back onto the concrete with a grunt. "It's too heavy."

The Foot approached warily. Leo clenched his fist and pushed up again. He should've known, he should've seen it coming. The Foot had anticipated their moves. They'd planned it out. They knew what the turtles would do and set a trap. He slipped up. He'd played right into the Shredder's bloody hands.

Raph's very ticked off mutter reached his hearing.

"I'm really starting to get sick of your girlfriend, Leo."

"Yeah. Me too." Leo sighed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Donnie held out an arm to stop Mikey from rushing down there. Mikey fidgeted, nearly bouncing on his feet.

"Come on, they need help, we gotta help them!"

"I know! But just think for a minute, Mikey." He pointed down to the small army of Foot ninjas that surrounded the other two brothers. "We rush down there, what do you think is gonna happen?"

"We'll get our shells whipped."

"Exactly. We are going to wait and then we'll figure out the best way to get Raph and Leo out of there without provoking an attack from the Foot. See what I mean?"

Mikey nodded. He crouched down beside Donnie and waited, although he couldn't keep his hands from constantly wringing together nervously.

Donnie examined the room and sighed. There was no way they would manage to get Raph and Leo out, not on their own. The two youngest turtles could only sit and watch as the ninjas gathered up their brothers' weapons and handed them to the Shredder. Dogpound stepped forward and in a single swipe picked up the net in his fist, with both captives.

Raph slipped down next to Leo as the mutant giant lifted the net up and tied the opening closed. The makeshift bag was then swung over Dogpound's shoulder and the Foot Clan vanished into the shadows. Leo grunted and sat up the best that he could. Raph felt the coarse fur of the mutant on his arm and flinched away from it, not wanting to even touch Dogpound if he didn't have to.

He sighed and looked around for any way possible of getting out of that situation and found none. His energy wasn't even spent completely yet and they'd managed to get beaten. The bad news was that Donnie and Mikey would either be their only hope of escape or already be headed home and have no idea what had happened. Either way, it didn't look good.

Not half a minute passed before Dogpound sliced open the net and dumped the load into a large steel box. Leo flipped onto his shell and looked up just as the lid snapped shut on them. The only light they had was from the tiny holes poked into the side and top of the box. They must have been in a vehicle because they heard an engine start and the box jolted into life, rumbling and shifting with every hole in the road.

Raph sat up and rubbed his head. He muttered insults about Dogpound, Karai, the Foot and the Shredder before flicking his eyes over to Leo.

"What now, Leo? Want to throw me over a cliff next?"

Leo glared at him and slid his legs around so he could sit comfortably. Well, as comfortable as possible.

"Sit tight and wait, I guess. They have our weapons and I don't have anything on me that would help break out of this box."

"Wonderful."

Leo watched as Raph ran his hand over his ankle. The cut had stopped bleeding, but it had swollen up slightly. Leo flexed his own wrist from when the net had dropped and he'd landed on it awkwardly. But he was more worried about his brother right now. Raph was far worse in condition than he was, having spent half the night in the clutches of the Foot and they still weren't out.

He glanced at the cut on Raph's shoulder. It was deeper than the rest, and a small stream of blood still stemmed from it. Leo slipped off a strand of the wrapping on his wrist and went to press it onto the cut, but Raph flinched away suddenly. Leo raised his hands and leaned back.

"Easy, Raph. I'm just trying to help."

Raph felt heat rise to his face. He hadn't meant to flinch, but after the events of the night, he was on edge. He took a breath.

_Dude, you gotta calm down. It's just Leo. Must be pretty bad if you're jumping away from your own brother._

His first instinct was to refuse, because in his mind, taking help meant that he needed help, and that made him feel… weak. But one of Splinter's teachings came into his mind.

'_A wise man one told me that accepting help from others does not mean you are weak. It does not mean that you have failed. It means that you are strong. It means that you are not fighting alone. It means that you trust enough to let them help you, and to someday repay the favor.'_

He pushed the snappy outburst back and relaxed again with a muttered apology.

"Sorry. Guess I'm a bit jumpy tonight."

Leo shrugged and wrapped the fabric around Raph's arm to keep it in place. His hands held a familiar gentleness to them, similar to Splinter's.

"Don't blame you. I'd probably be the same way. We all would."

Raph felt a distinct annoyance at being taken care of and comforted by his only older brother, but suffered through it anyways. He couldn't stand the silence in the stupid container so he kept talking. It was the only thing they could do.

"Man, this didn't turn out the way I thought it would."

"Since when does anything we do turn the way we think it does? I don't think we're ever going to have a single fight where we don't get any surprises or sudden twists. Be nice if we could but just think about it. We're giant humanoid turtles that fight alien robots, ninjas and mutants and live in the sewers beneath one of the most famous cities in the country. If nothing normal has happened to us by now, I don't think it ever will."

Raph snorted a laugh and shrugged.

"You got a point there."

Silence passed for a few more minutes before Raphael finally voiced what they'd both been thinking.

"This is gonna be one tough cookie to get out of, Leo. We don't know where we are or where they're taking us, and we don't even know if Donnie and Mikey have a clue of what happened. We're stuck in a stupid metal container without any weapons what so ever and the only people within a mile radius that even know we exist are against us. Explain how we get out of this one, oh great leader."

Leo locked his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees. He closed his eyes with a sigh and shook his head.

"I don't know, Raph. I really don't."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Donnie straightened up from his kneel on the roof and watched the van pull away. He looked down at Mikey.

"Well, you have two choices. Follow the van or go get help."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Whichever one you don't."

Mikey thought for a moment. Then he grinned.

"I have an idea! Why don't I go get April and you follow the van?"

Donnie rolled his eyes with a sarcastic smile.

"Nice thinking Mikey. But see if you can find anyone else, because I don't know if April's gonna be enough. Get anyone you can except Splinter. He doesn't need to come above; he'd be killed if the Foot see him."

Mikey nodded and leaped away. Donnie turned and ran after the van, leaping, flipping and rolling across rooftops. The van was going at a decent speed, but not so fast he couldn't keep up. Donnie had no idea where they were going, or when they'd stop, so he had no choice but to follow.

Donnie was panting when the van finally slowed and stopped in front of what probably would have been the last place he would have expected. He stood above them, staring in surprise.

"They're using the cake place? Didn't see that coming."

The van backed up to the door. But it was the door next to the cake shop. Donnie smirked and nodded, sneaking around to the side so he wouldn't be seen.

"Blacksmith's more like it. I wondered where they got the right type of iron for that box."

Donnie knelt on the edge of the roof, watching as Dogpound kicked open the door and dragged the box inside. He heard a faint curse escape from the box and knew it was them. The door snapped shut.

_All I can do now is wait for Mikey, I suppose_.

He didn't have to wait long. He turned his head as he heard Mikey's laugh and felt a knot in his stomach as he heard April's sweet melodic voice with him. Donnie stood up and then gave Mikey a look.

Mikey grinned and held up the large cardboard box he had in his hands. A very loud and angry snarl sounded from it and Donnie sighed, rubbing his temple.

"What's in the box, Mikey?"

"The Devil Cat. He's gonna help us get Raph and Leo out."

April held up her hands.

"He already had it when he came and got me, I have nothing to do with it."

Donnie looked at Mikey from the top of his eyes.

"Devil Cat?"

Mikey grinned and nodded. He pointed back the way he had come.

"Yeah, you know. The one that attacked me on the fire escape. You remember Mittens."

Donnie's jaw dropped and he flicked Mikey over the head.

"You stole a guy's cat? Why didn't you catch a stray or something?"

"Because the strays are too friendly around here. Plus, this cat left scratches on my shell, so he'll be fine taking out a few Foot for us! And I didn't _steal_ it; I just took him without asking. I'll bring it back later."

Donnie slapped his palm to his forehead and sighed. He let it drop for now. They had worse things to focus on. He turned back to the street and April walked up beside him.

"So… Where are they?"

"The blacksmith. Dogpound just dragged them in there."

April tipped her head and then slowly shook it.

"I still don't see how I'm any help."

Donnie looked over at her and smiled.

"You've been training with Splinter to be a ninja."

"For five months. I'm nowhere near as good as you guys."

"Five months is better than nothing. Plus, it doesn't take a lot of effort to put these guys down anyways."

"Then how did Raph and Leo get caught?"

"Cause we didn't think that the Foot would actually set a decent trap."

April smiled and crouched, dropping down onto the fire escape.

"Well, we better get going."

Donnie jumped down beside her. They both looked up as Mikey peered over the edge, still holding the box that contained the really angry cat. He held it out.

"What do I do with it?"

Donnie sighed.

"Just bring it with you. Who knows, we might need it."

Mikey grinned and dropped down. All three leaped nimbly down onto the street and pressed back into the shadows. Donnie's eyes widened suddenly in surprise and he looked over at April.

"I forgot! You don't have a weapon. It's down in the lair."

Mikey grinned and waved it off.

"Don't worry about it, bro. I took care of that."

April reached behind her and pulled out her beautiful but deadly fan. Donnie flashed his gaze over to it, eyes wide in surprise. April held it up.

"Mikey grabbed it quickly as we came back."

"You know how to use it?"

"Of course I know how to use it, it's my weapon!"

Donnie looked over at Mikey.

"Nice job."

Mikey grinned and tapped his head.

"I'm smart!"

Donnie shook his head in exasperation and decided not to pursue the subject. He snuck out onto the road and then zoomed into the alley beside the blacksmith. The other two followed him with ease. For once, Donnie was in charge. It felt strange, but it was the only option. April was too inexperienced, and Mikey was… well, Mikey was himself.

Donnie just prayed that he did well enough to get his brothers out.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Raph growled and straightened up, looking over at Leo.

"Forget this, I'm not sitting here waiting for whoever wants to try and finish us off."

Leo looked up in surprise and got to his knees.

"Well, what do you suppose we do, Raph?"

Raph shrugged and narrowed his eyes. He reached forward and pulled the last egg bomb from Leo's belt. Leo looked at it in surprise.

"Forgot I had that."

The brother in red suddenly grinned and raised his hand high.

"Might want to hold your breath."

_BOOM!_

Purple streaks of smoke whirled out of the holes in the box, and it shuddered once then fell still. Every pair of eyes in the room was now on it, and one Foot looked over at another uncertainly. Dogpound flicked an ear and went back to what he was doing. The ninjas took this as a signal and went back to standing guard.

Leo waved the smoke away from his face and coughed once. He looked up at Raph, and despite their situation, his eyes held a slight amusement.

"Well that didn't work." Raph muttered.

He sat down and looked around again. Leo pushed on the lid of the box and heard a slight clink of metal on metal. He grunted and shoved as hard as he could, but the lid didn't give. Raph gave him a look. Leo retaliated with a glare.

"Did _you_ think to check if it was locked? It could have been open this whole time and we wouldn't have known about it."

"Well, guess what, genius? _It's locked_."

"I know that." Leo snapped back.

Raph punched the side of the container angrily, but all he did was hurt his hand. He rubbed his hand and set his jaw grumpily.

"Stupid box. What are we even here for, anyway? They aren't doing anything with us."

Leo shrugged and sat back down. He felt his wrist to double check for a kunai, but came up empty.

"I don't know. It's like they're waiting for something to come and try to-"

Both pairs of eyes met, wide in shock at the realization. Raph beat the back of his head on the wall and completed the thought.

"Try to rescue us."

Silence passed for a few seconds before the box nearly rocked with the angry curse.

"_Son of a Kraang_!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Donnie peered around the corner. Nobody came out of the building, but he knew there were still bad people inside it. Well, bad people as in the Foot and Dogpound at least. Raph and Leo were in there, and they weren't bad.

He gave himself a mental shake to get back on track. He was starting to think like Mikey. He had to think like Leo. Donnie didn't like having to act like the leader. He was the genius, the intellect. He was the one who knew everything about everything. Leo was the one who made the right decisions. Sure, when they had to choose the leader in the first place, it didn't seem like that bad of an idea when he argued to be the leader, but now... Now it felt awkward. He felt out of place. Not bad enough to have to pass the role on to April, and definitely not enough to have a panic attack and freeze up like Raph, but still, it felt strange.

So he put his mind to it. Think like Leo. Think about what he would do.

Donnie glanced around. Leo was resourceful, and he liked to use his surroundings to his advantage. Whatever he could use as a weapon or as a defense to assure their victory, he used it without a second thought. Like the beehive, and the water tower.

_So use what you can. And what you can use..._

Donnie suddenly gave a jolt as if he'd been struck. He turned to Mikey, a small smile growing on his face.

_...is a little firepower. In a small, furry sort of sense._

"Mikey, let me see the box."

Mikey tipped his head but thankfully, for once, he didn't questions him and handed him the cardboard box. It shivered with a snarl and Donnie peeked through a slice in the side, probably made by Mittens himself.

The cat had grown quite a bit since the last time he had seen it. Instead of a furious kitten, it was now a fully-fledged vicious and savage tomcat with an anger issue. His fur was spiked along his back and his claws were long and sharp. Angry green eyes glared out at Donnie, and a glint of teeth shone out from beneath them. Donnie smiled and looked up at April and Mikey.

"Okay. I have a plan."

Before he could continue, Mikey fist pumped and gave a happy yell.

"Yeah! We actually have a plan for once! The Foot got nothin' on us now!"

April elbowed Mikey in the side to shut him up and looked back at Donnie. Donnie pointed to the box and then to the blacksmith shop.

"We need a distraction if we want to get through that door. The Foot won't fall for the special delivery thing, and if they see any of us, they'll attack. So..."

April caught on fast.

"So they won't be expecting the cat. They'll be expecting us, and they'll be expecting a sneak attack. Not an outright onslaught."

"Exactly."

Donnie nodded and crept forward, hugging the wall. He knelt next to the door, placing the box down. He knew this probably wasn't the best thing to do and he felt really guilty about it, but he gave the box a good hard shake, opened it and tossed it inside the door. Donnie threw two smoke bombs in after it to help the scene change from mass panic to absolute chaos. It sounded like a huge furry bomb went off, except instead of fire and explosions, there were snarls and yowling and screaming and cries of pain and confusion.

"AH! Where is it?! I don't see it!"

"It's on me! IT'S ON ME!"

"Ow! Get it off! AHHHHH!"

Donnie waved and shot inside, followed by the two others. He gasped and ducked to the side as a blur of clawing black and white fur shot over his head and went in for another round at the ninjas. Once the last Foot ninja had run off, screaming of a devil cat and how it was going to kill them all, Mittens turned and arched his back at Mikey, Donnie and April.

They froze. April leaned close to Donnie.

"Um... Maybe this wasn't the best idea."

Donnie was about to speak when the cat leaped at them. He ducked again and Mittens shot over his head, snarling bloody murder. If Raphael was a cat, he would have been this one. Mittens hit Mikey clean in the face and then jumped away and out the door. Mikey held a hand to the single swipe of scratches across his cheek and stared after him, eyes wide in utter shock. He closed his mouth and turned to Donnie, and gave a shrug.

April looked back at Mikey and smiled to ease the tension and the shock of the moment.

"You okay, Mikey?"

Mikey nodded.

"I don't think that cat likes faces... or Feet."

Donnie gave him a look and then tiptoed out of the room. A single hallway led into another room. The trio snuck down it, Mikey keeping an eye out behind for danger. April took out the fan as they neared the end of the hall. She looked calm and ready, but Donnie could see the slightest trace of nervousness in her eyes. He smiled encouragingly at her and then pressed up against the wall as they came to the corner of the hall. It would be her first proper fight, and he couldn't help but worry for her. But he had other things to focus on right now.

The three peered out into the room and Donnie grinned as he saw the metal box at the other end. Dogpound stood guard near it, along with a few ninjas. But the most encouraging factor was that the box suddenly shook with a furious stream of anger. The phrases were muffled and indistinct, but recognizable. Donnie looked behind at April and Mikey, pointing with his thumb to the box.

"Think that's them?"

A loud bang sounded and the box rocked slightly, and a loud angry swear followed. A sharp voice cut in and both voices calmed into a much quieter discussion. April raised an eyebrow.

"I'll bet on it, yeah."

Mikey gave a short giggle.

Dogpound's ear flicked and his head snapped around with a growl.

Mikey slapped his hands over his mouth and glanced over to the exasperated expressions of his brother and adopted sister. He winced down and smiled apologetically.

"Heh... My bad."

Donnie exchanged a glance with April.

"Would you like to do the honors this time?"

April shrugged.

"Sure, why not?"

She turned to Mikey, stared him in the eye for a moment and then swatted him over the head. Mikey flinched back and rubbed his head, then the three of them turned back to the room, where Dogpound was slowly stalking towards the hallway. Donnie gulped.

"Oh, man. Why is it that the only time you need them, they're the ones who're caught?"

April shrugged, sharing the same expression.

"I don't know, but it's getting on my nerves too."

"Well, I hope you're ready for your first official fight."

"Donnie, I've been ready for weeks."

"Just saying."

"Would you shut up and focus, please?"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Leo sighed and gave Raph an angry look.

"Would you just give it up already? They're not gonna let us go by yelling at them."

Raph glanced over at Leo and growled, but sat down again and pulled his knees to his chin.

"I'm just sick of being stuck in this stupid box!"

He glared at the wall and kicked it once, recoiling as fast as he lashed out.

"Mother of-!"

"Raphael! Enough."

Raph looked over at Leo, surprised. Leo shrugged, looking confused.

"What? I'm tired of hearing you scream at nothing and then hurt yourself even more. Don't give me that look."

"You have no idea how much that sounded like Splinter."

Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Well at least it worked."

"So how are we getting out of here?"

A loud yelp came from outside and they both jumped, staring at the side of the box. A snarl followed and then there was a high pitched war cry and Leo exchanged a look with Raph.

"Was that Mikey?"

Raph shrugged and tipped his head.

"Sounded more like a girl."

Leo snapped up, getting to his knees.

"They didn't."

"Look out behind you, April!"

"I got him, Donnie! Quit worrying."

Raph slapped his palm to his forehead.

"They did."

Leo threw his hands up into the air.

"Donnie knows she doesn't have enough training yet! She doesn't have any experience at all and he's bringing her to battle."

Raph looked up as April yelled again.

"Come at me! Bring it on, Foot!"

He smirked and nudged Leo on the shoulder.

"Sounds like she's doing pretty good to me."

Leo rolled his eyes, but he had to admit that Raph was right. She sounded like she was having the time of her life out there.

"You're a bad influence, that's why."

Leo stopped as they heard Donnie's yell.

"April, look out! Dogpound!"

Leo yelled out in surprise as the box rocked. Something had smashed into the side of the container. Raph glanced at Leo. April's mutter was heard from right beside them.

"Okay, let's not rush the giant mutant dog."

Leo crawled over to the side, worried but slightly annoyed.

"April! Get out of here, you're not ready to fight him yet! Even we haven't beaten him head on!"

"Hello to you too, Leo."

Raph shoved Leo to the side.

"April, can you see our weapons?"

Silence for a moment from the girl as the battle continued with Mikey's yell. Then she replied.

"Yeah. They're on the other side of the room, beside a door."

Raph looked over at Leo.

"At least we know they're still here."

Leo knelt up beside his brother.

"Get Donnie over here. Tell him to get this box open, we have to get out of here."

"I know, Leo. We're working on it."

Leo's panic clicked to Raph. He tapped the wall of the box.

"No, April, listen. It's a trap, all of it!"

"What?"

Leo clenched his fists.

"They were waiting for you guys this whole time. It's a trap!"

She fell silent for a moment, then they heard a blade drag across the floor and then a grunt from April. She must have kicked the Foot away.

"I'll get Donnie. Hang tight, guys."

They heard her rush away and Raph sat back. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they're going faster than I thought they would."

Leo gritted his teeth.

"It's not fast enough. The Foot are waiting for something. I just don't know what. They're waiting for some sort of sign or the perfect moment to strike. Once we get his box open, be ready for anything."

Raph nodded and twisted around to look for any weakness whatsoever in the metal. He gasped and his hand flinched up to his side. Leo automatically jumped to his side, placing a hand on his brother's shell. Raph gritted his teeth and glared at the floor.

Leo knew he was angry. At himself, at his wounds, at the Foot and especially Dogpound. Raph did not faze well when it was him that was the one who needed help.

Raph finally straightened up, and Leo could see the tiniest traces of pain in his green eyes. Leo looked down to where his brother's hand was pulling away from his side. A small scorch mark that he had not noticed before stood out against Raphael's yellow plastron like a single patch of mud in the middle of the grass. Leo sighed and looked back up at the wall.

"We gotta get you home."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

April rolled out of the way to avoid another kick from the dog and sliced back with her fan. Dogpound snarled as a small patch of fur dropped off of his tail, cut like a katana would slice through butter. By the time he looked back at her, she was up and running, yelling her friend's name.

"_DONATELLO_!"

Donnie ducked a slice from his opponent and swatted him away with his staff, glancing to where April was running for him. She skidded to a stop beside him, kicking a ninja away from her. They both continued to fight as she burst into a speedy explanation.

"Leo and Raph are in the box, they're okay for now, but we really have to get the box unlocked and open and then get out of here as fast as we can. They say that the Foot laid another trap, they were waiting for us to come. Something is gonna happen and the faster we get out of here, the better."

The teenage girl grunted and snapped around, lashing out at a ninja that was going at Mikey from behind. She panted, trying to catch her breath before another ninja rushed her.

_This is harder than I thought. Thank goodness Splinter trained me well._

April narrowed her eyes and flicked her fan closed, slipping it into her other hand.

_But sometimes… being the toughest girl in school has its advantages!_

A pale, clenched fist flew forward and April O'Neil flat out punched the Foot ninja clean in the face, sending him flying back. She gave her hand a shake and huffed a laugh, then re-extended her fan and turned to Donnie.

Mikey appeared beside them, giving a loud yell and back kicking two of them away. Donnie jumped up, extending the blade of his staff. The ninjas around him scattered to avoid being gutted by it and he rolled forward, jumping up. Donnie waved his arm towards the box.

"I got the box, you guys hold 'em off!"

"Done deal, bro!" Mikey grinned back, spanning out his nunchucks.

April started to catch onto Mikey's enthusiasm. She exchanged a grin with him and he hunched down. She jumped up on top of his shell and he propelled her up over the Foot. April grabbed a hold of his nunchuck and Mikey pulled his arm back quickly, swinging her around. April let out a laugh as her feet threw the ninjas back, but then landed heavily and nearly tripped.

Mikey gave her a high three/five and flipped, heading to back up Donnie as he worked frantically on the box's lock. April ran after him, smile slowly fading.

"Okay, gotta practice my landings. That could've ended worse than it did."

Mikey laughed.

"Come on, April! It's just the Foot!"

Suddenly Dogpound roared and snapped his jaws at the two, forcing them to scatter apart. Mikey straightened up with a cringe.

"And Dogpound."

April glared up at the gigantic mutant, red head attitude kicking in. She staggered her stance, ready to spring away in any direction if he lunged. Last time she met this thing, she ended up tied up and kidnapped in a Foot van with a Purple Dragon at the wheel. This time was gonna be different.

Dogpound sneered down at them both.

"Would you look at this? Two little turtles and a _child_. This should be fun."

April narrowed her eyes.

_Child, eh? I'll show you '_child'.

Before Dogpound could swing a fist at them, April jumped up and whirled around, kicking him in the nose. She landed on her feet this time.

"Better."

Dogpound yelped and then snarled, but when he snapped at her, she folded up her fan and stood there firmly. As he came forward, Mikey jumped in front of April, brought his arm back and swatted Dogpound across the nose with the end of his nunchucks.

"Bad dog!" Mikey yelled with a mocking but firm face. April flicked his shoulder and ran to the side, rolling to avoid a smack to the face and stopped beside Donnie, Mikey following behind. Just as they were about to ask if everything was going okay, the lock clicked and the lid of the box exploded outward.

Raph popped up, looking thoroughly ticked off and eyes aflame. Leo stood up beside him, looking grateful to be able to stretch his legs. As Raph was jumping over the side to get out, Leo suddenly yelled and pushed him away. Donnie looked up and jumped to the side with a yelp, tackling April and Mikey out of the way as the huge furred foot came down.

The metal box crushed into a single mangled sheet in an instant. Dogpound snarled and swung his heel towards them, but they ducked and jumped away. Raph straightened up beside Leo, giving a huff.

"Thanks."

Leo gave a small halfhearted smile and clenched his fists to be ready.

"No problem."

Mikey helped April up quickly and Donnie looked behind him at the table with the weapons on it. April flicked open her fan as Dogpound faced them again, noticing Donnie's gaze.

"They said there was a trap set somewhere."

Donnie nodded.

"I think I know what it is."

He jumped away and April leaped forward with the others, working to fend off Dogpound. April grunted as the mutant whirled around to punch at Leo and his tail caught her in the side, sending her into Raph. She shook her head lightly and was up in an instant, Raph right behind her.

_Nothing like a fight against a gigantic evil mutant dog with your mutant ninja turtle friends to wake you up in the morning._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The table was set out clear in the open, as if it was just waiting for someone to come along and take the katanas and sai off of it. But by now, Donnie was extra cautious about what he touched and fiddled around with, because this was just screaming 'trap' to him. Nobody leaves weapons out like this if there isn't something along with it.

Donnie couldn't see anything attached to the table, but that didn't mean a thing. He heard the fight raging behind him. Dogpound sure didn't sound too happy. The turtle tuned out the sounds and used his hand to gently move one of Leo's katanas over a few inches.

Nothing.

Well that was helpful. Maybe it wasn't trapped after all.

_Not a chance. Something's gotta be here. It's never this simple…_

He slowly slid his finger under the blade of Leo's katana and lifted the end.

_There we go._

Donnie felt a small smile reach his lips as he saw the tiny black sensor on the tabletop. He tipped his head, smile fading.

_But what's it do?_

His chocolate brown eyes narrowed as he looked up and around, examining the rooftop. Nothing. This was getting stranger and stranger by the second. All of their attacks and traps so far had been from _above_. But the Foot were all about surprise, so if they still wanted the advantage of shock, then… then they'd go for a different point of view.

Donnie averted his gaze to the floor. As he'd suspected, the faint and remarkably well hidden lines proved him right. All around the table, extending about ten feet out in all directions. He looked back at the fight, where Leo was just jumping up onto Dogpound's shoulders to give him a wicked kick to the eye. Donnie looked back down at the table and then his eyes widened. He whirled around, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"_Leo_! Try and lure Dogpound over here, I have an idea!"

Leo looked up and nodded, ducking and jumping off, rolling beneath Dogpound and jumping onto his feet behind him.

"Alright! Raph, Mikey, it's your go, guys!"

As Donnie watched, Raph skidded in front of Dogpound. He could tell that Raph was simply ignoring the wounds from the earlier fights. He knew that he would suppress the pain until he was back at the lair where Donnie would have to make him sit still so he could help him. Right now, Raph looked angry and ready for a good fight. He smirked and clenched his fists. A sharp punch to the chin was all that was needed for Dogpound's attention to be averted to Raph, and the gigantic canine snarled, baring his teeth.

As he lunged forward, Raph jumped back. Mikey landed at his side, grinning and nunchucks whirling like mad. Both brothers exchanged a glance and gave a small nod, then looked back up. The turtles jumped away to avoid the oncoming blows from Dogpound, watching as he advanced on them. Raph sneered up at Dogpound.

"Come on, fur ball."

He glanced behind him to where Donnie stood, tensed and ready at the table.

"That's it, come on! Come on, you stupid mutt!"

Mikey stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry, pushing Dogpound's final button. He snapped forward with a clack of his jaws, almost catching Mikey by the leg. Donnie took a breath and his hand lunged forward.

"_NOW_!"

Raph leaped away, tucking into a roll and straightening back up beside Leo. Mikey did the same, and Donnie bounced to the side, holding all four of his brothers' weapons in his hands, jumping up just as the cage burst from the floor around the table. Dogpound stood up, whirling around to go at them again but roared in anger as he found himself caught by the Foot's own trap.

"When I get my hand on you turtles, I'll crush you into bits and pieces! Hear me?!"

Raph rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, giving Dogpound a look.

"We hear you. We just don't care."

Leo took his swords from Donnie and tossed Raph his sai and then turned towards the door.

"We gotta move before more ninjas come. Or henchmen."

Donnie nodded and they all ran out, down the hall and jumping over the small piles of ninjas that were taken care of earlier. The shredded cardboard box still lay in the corner. As soon as they were outside, they jumped up onto the rooftops, panting. Leo rubbed his head.

"What a night."

Raph nodded.

"You can say that again."

Suddenly Mikey grinned.

"Do you guys realize what we just did?"

All three brothers and April just stared at him. He looked at each one of their faces and his own face fell.

"You guys don't see it? No?"

Donnie sighed and shook his head.

"No, Mikey. I don't think we're following you. What exactly did we do?"

Mikey grinned like the idiot he was on the inside.

"We just took down Dogpound. Ourselves. For the first time. Oh, man, that was great!"

Raph looked over at Leo, a grin growing on his own face.

"You know, he's right. We've never beaten that creep before."

Leo gave a laugh and straightened up, his laugh growing. Suddenly all five of them were laughing and giggling. Mikey jumped up into the air with a fist pump and a whoop. Then he flung his hand up.

"High three!"

Mikey glanced over at April.

"Err-I mean, high three-five!"

April laughed again and all five hands met in the air. Donnie smiled at the look of accomplishment and confidence on his brothers' and friend's faces. They weren't exactly ready or skilled enough to take down the Shredder yet, but they were on their way.

Oh yes.

They were definitely on their way.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The sense of victory didn't last long.

It was a long and tiring walk back to their usual entrance. Everybody was exhausted and had various injuries, ranging from simple cuts to the deep burn on Raphael's side. The worst wound Mikey had was a long slice down his arm, but it was shallow and didn't even hurt. The scratches on his cheek from Mittens, however, still stung. It felt like a paper cut. Small, clean and neat, but stung like shell.

Mikey felt pretty great after that fight. They had accomplished something that they had tried to do before and failed, but this time it actually worked. Head on, they took down Dogpound. In the back of his mind, Mikey knew that they were lucky, but he couldn't help but feel epic at the thought of the gigantic mutant dog sulking in the corner of the cage with his tail tucked between his legs and taking hours to realize that Donnie had never actually locked the cage in place.

There was something about the thought that just made him grin.

Leo was up front with Raph. He was anxious and walked beside his injured brother, keeping an eye on him. April walked right behind them with Donnie, and Mikey tagged along on the other side. Donnie was trying to explain some sort of science to April, which she seemed to have difficulty understanding. Mikey didn't even try to understand, but he decided to listen in anyways. He had nothing else to do until they got home.

Mikey tipped his head as Donnie started on about something called 'Xenon'. April seemed to understand though.

"Noble gases can't bond with anything, right?"

Donnie nodded.

"Right. So if you get a question on the test where, say, Xenon bonds with Potassium? It's wrong, it's a trick question."

"Okay. What about Helium?"

"That's still a noble gas. It's in the eighteenth group."

April nodded and then sighed.

"I hope I can pass this test tomorrow."

Donnie smiled and patted her shoulder.

"You'll do fine. Think about it as fighting the Foot. Short and simple."

Mikey tapped Donnie on the shoulder.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Donnie glanced at April and then gave a small smile, looking back at Mikey.

"Chemistry. See, if you mix certain elements together it creates new ones, called compounds. But some elements can't bond, and those are the noble gases. So if you try to mix a noble gas with something, nothing is going to happen because noble gases are atoms that have all of their shells filled…"

Mikey groaned and tuned out.

_This is worse than listening to Stinkman's 'Poor Me' speech._

_KABOOM!_

"_Gyaahh_!" Donnie yelped. All five of the teens cringed down at the sudden noise, on edge because of the night's events. Leo looked up and relaxed as he saw the lightning in the distance. Mikey rubbed the side of his head. The loud thunder clap hurt his ears. Why couldn't thunder be nice and silent, or at least not terrifying? He looked over to where Leo straightened back up.

"It's okay, guys, it's just a storm. Nothing to panic about. We just have to get home before the rain hits hard, or else we might get stuck in the tunnels again."

April raised an eyebrow.

"You guys practically _own_ the sewers. How did you get stuck?"

Raph was the one that replied, although Mikey could tell by the sound of his voice that he didn't really want to talk.

"The tunnels flood when it rains really hard. Washes a lot of trash down into the place, and it builds up everywhere. Got stuck 'cause it blocked the lair for a few days 'til the water died down."

April nodded.

"That makes sense."

Leo nodded and looked across the rooftop. Mikey followed his gaze and grinned as he saw the silhouette of the alley not far away. Finally! He still had a pizza stash to finish. He started for the alley, bouncing past Raph.

Mikey froze, feeling a strange sort of tingle go up his neck. He looked back at Raph with his usual confused gaze. Raph met his eyes. He seemed exhausted and Mikey could see from the look that he was hurting. Of course, Raph wouldn't admit it in a million years. That, plus the fact that Raph was holding his side again.

Mikey opened his mouth, looking towards Leo, but he saw Raph shake his head quickly. The youngest turtle grew even more confused. If Raph was hurting, wouldn't he want help? Obviously not, for Raph just shook his head again and kept on.

Leo walked up beside Mikey and gave him a look.

"Were you gonna say something?"

Mikey bit his cheek, thinking of an alibi, and then grinned.

"Yeah. Can we order pizza?"

Leo sighed. Face, meet palm.

"Yes, Mikey, we can order pizza. What else do we ever order?"

Mikey grinned and watched Leo continue past him. His grin fell as he turned after him, watching Raph jump down onto the fire escape. The strange tingle on his neck didn't go away. Mikey followed his brothers, Donnie and April behind him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something, he didn't know what, but that something was wrong with Raph.

Ah well. Couldn't be that bad.

After all, he had a pizza to order!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_Ooookay, not doing that again. Gotta remember where I keep these things._

Raph shook his head quickly and straightened up. He rubbed his cheek, slipping his sai back into his belt and then turned, opening his door and walking out into the hall. It was the day after the big rescue, and no sound except the second oldest boy's feet disturbed the lair. Splinter had given them a day to recover, after realizing how bad the fight had been once he had taken into account everyone's various wounds. So, everybody was taking the chance to sleep in. Everybody, except Raphael.

He'd woken up not ten minutes earlier, his head pounding with a splitting headache. He had gotten up out of bed and went for the door, but completely forgot about where he had left his sai last night. After Splinter had patched them all up, all five of them crashed into their beds and hadn't woken since. Raph managed to stay awake long enough to throw his sai on the floor and forgetting where they were. Naturally, he made the mistake of tripping on them and face planting into the door.

Now he rubbed his nose and slipped quietly into the kitchen, opening the cupboard. He was starving, and really didn't feel like swiping a piece of Mikey's stale three-days-too-old-but-too-good-to-throw-away pizza, so, cereal was on the menu this morning.

He pulled down the box of cereal and a bowl. It wasn't long before he was sitting at the table, spooning the cereal into his mouth. It was still early. And the headache was back. Raph sighed and put his breakfast away, going back down the hall. He really did not a talk to anyone right now, so he opened his door to go back inside.

"What are you up so early for?"

Raph cringed at Leo's voice. Of course. Leo was always the early bird. He was always the first one up. It was like he didn't sleep at all. Raph turned around and gave Leo a look.

"I had breakfast. Not a crime, is it?"

Leo closed his door behind him and started down the hall.

"I was just asking. You're never up early though. What's up?"

Raph gave a small groan and closed the door, following Leo out into the living room. No point in trying to go back to bed now.

"Just had a headache."

Leo nodded and went over to the fridge, opening it and leaning down to see what they had. Then he stopped and stood up, closing the fridge door. He looked over at Raph.

"Are you okay?"

Raph started, surprised at the question. Then he noticed that he was holding the bandage on his side. Quickly he removed his hand and sat down at the table again.

"I'm fine," he muttered. Leo raised an eyebrow, obviously seeing past the words. He walked over and sat down across from him.

"Did you get Donnie to look at it?"

"I don't need Donnie to look at it, Leo. It's fine." Raph snapped. Leo looked a bit surprised at the outburst but decided to get back to making breakfast. He stood up and went over to the stove, turning it on. Raph cringed.

_Oh no… Wait for it…_

"OW!"

_There we go._

Raph gave Leo a look as he turned around, holding his finger. Leo met Raph's eyes and sighed.

"Don't give me that look, alright? I just burned myself."

Raph didn't budge. Leo groaned and started back down the hallway.

"I'll get Mikey to make breakfast."

"Good idea."

"S'not my fault the kitchen hates me."

Raph rolled his eyes and got off the chair, walking over and turning the stove off. At this rate, Leo was gonna burn down the lair.

His brother returned a few minutes later with the other three. Raph stepped away from the counter, letting Mikey have room. If Mikey was good at anything, it was cooking. Leo burned anything he tried to make, including himself. Mikey rarely ever burned himself, and he was a master at the whole cook thing. So, they just let him do his job.

April sat down at the table. She was getting used to living down here now. She would be living down here permanently in a few days. Splinter had allowed her to stay in school for the last week of the year since this was the last one, and only at the agreement that she kept her T-Phone on her at all times and that one of the boys met her after school to bring her down. They weren't taking any chances with the Foot or the Kraang.

Donnie looked over at Raph. He took one look at his brother and reached up into the cabinet, automatically knowing what he needed. Leo must have told him. Donnie turned back, tossing two migraine tablets onto the table.

"Take them with water. And as soon as breakfast is done, _everyone_ is getting their bandages changed. I don't need infections."

Raph raised a brow. Donnie only got like this when he was in doctor mode. He always put the family before the sciences, although the way he obsessed over them got on Raph's nerves once in a while. But nobody questioned him. Just let him do his job and then leave him be.

Mikey made pancakes. Interestingly enough, the way he mixed the leftover pizza with it complemented it quite nicely. Mikey mixed pizza with everything he made. Nobody said much during breakfast, partly due to the fact that they were all exhausted and partly due to the fact that their mouths were stuffed.

To everyone's surprise, Raph was the first one to put down his fork and get up from the table, leaving half of the pancake unfinished. He looked up to see the other four looking at him curiously.

"What? I'm not hungry, alright? I already ate. Quit looking at me like that!"

Mikey swallowed his mouthful and tipped his head.

"But I thought you liked my pancakes."

Raph shot him a look and Mikey went back to his breakfast. For once, the others followed his lead and let it drop. Raph put his dishes away and retreated back to his room, flopping down on his bed.

For the record, he didn't really know what was bugging him. He knew that he was really short tempered this morning. He felt bad about it, but he just hated the fact that everyone kept asking him if he was okay. Not that he was, but still, he wasn't used to everyone worrying about him. He didn't like being the center of attention. That was Mikey's job.

Raph grumbled lightly and picked up Spike, placing him on his plastron. The unmutated turtle looked at him curiously and just stood there on Raph's chest. Raph ran his hand over his pet's shell.

"Spike, you know what's wrong, right? Cause I sure don't. Is something wrong with me?"

His only reply was a blink and a nibble on the end of his mask.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Mikey, what are you doing? No! Put that down before you hurt yourself!"

"It looks like water."

"Trust me, it's not water. It's hydrochloric acid."

"Wonder if it feels like water…"

Donnie sighed and rubbed his head.

"Yeah, you touch it and see what happens."

Mikey tried to pry off the lid. Donnie yelped and grabbed it away from him.

"_I didn't mean to actually try and touch it, you shell-brain_!"

"You said to-!"

"I was _joking_!"

Donnie replaced the beaker back on his desk. He sighed and looked back at his younger brother, who had picked found something else to occupy himself. Of course, nothing much safer. Unless a high powered handheld laser drill is considered safe.

The drill was snatched out of Mikey's hands and replaced on its holder. Donnie grabbed Mikey by the shoulders, sat him down in the rolling chair and rolled him away from the desk, to the middle of the floor where he couldn't touch anything. Donnie straightened up and pointed a finger at Mikey.

"_Stay_. You know better than to come in here, remember what happened last time?"

Mikey grinned.

"Everything went BOOM!"

Donnie sighed and rubbed his temple. This is what happens when you have a younger brother. They get into everything.

"Well, if you want to stay in here, stay there. I don't know _why_ you came in here, because there really isn't anything for you to do."

"I needed to talk to you."

The older turtle turned and looked at his younger sibling. Donnie slowly narrowed his eyes.

"…About what…?"

Mikey suddenly seemed a bit uncomfortable. He twined his hands together and avoided Donnie's eyes, looking to the ground.

"I… uh…"

"Spit it out, Mikey."

"How come Raph's mad at me again?"

Donnie's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Mikey looked up at him, his eyes wide and worried. Then it clicked.

Of course. The way Raph was acting yesterday morning at breakfast, the way he snapped at them, Mikey must think that Raph was mad at him again for something. Like when he broke his sai. He didn't want his brothers mad at him, and the one he had the strongest bond with was Donatello. Naturally, that's who he would first go to if he was having problems. Or if he wanted sort things out with one of the other two.

Donnie sighed and looked at Mikey, who looked as if he was growing even more nervous.

"Mikey, what would Raph be mad at you about? You didn't break anything again."

Mikey shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I dunno… I'm just the one that he's usually mad at, so I thought…"

Donnie shook his head.

"I don't think Raph's mad at you. He's just trying to calm down from what happened. And unfortunately for us, his way of calming down is snapping at us. He's just mad at the Foot, Dogpound, the Shredder, and probably himself."

Mikey looked up at his brother, surprised. He didn't even have to ask. Donnie turned back to his desk, finishing his explanation.

"Raph takes it hard when he can't get out of something by himself. He's just mad because he needed help."

He heard Mikey get up out of the rolling chair.

"So… So he's not mad at me?"

Donnie shook his head and heard a small sigh of relief. He smiled. Even if Mikey was annoying sometimes - scratch that, most of the time - he was still one of the most sensitive of the four boys. Donnie guessed that Mikey only acted annoying because he was trying to cheer everyone else up, and that's why he was so worried about Raph. He doesn't like it when his brothers are mad.

He heard a small clink and then a crash. Donnie sighed and let his head fall onto his desk in exasperation.

"Mikey, what did you do now?"

"…Nothing!"

Donnie groaned and turned around to see Mikey holding what once had been a small remote controlled robot. Now, it was crumpled scraps of metal on the ground. Donnie walked over and shot Mikey a glare. Mikey grinned and then bounced off again. A few seconds of silence passed and then…

"_Donnie_!"

Donnie jumped up suddenly.

"What?!"

"How come April's on your laptop screen."

Donnie's face went blank and almost pale. He shot after his brother, who'd run down the hallway grinning.

"Guys! HEY GUYS! Guess what Donnie's screensa-!"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"Ow! Get off, I had it first!"

Both of them froze as Leo walked out of his room. The eldest's eyes went wide and then he sighed. Donnie was on top of Mikey's shell, pinning him to the ground and reaching for the laptop in Mikey's hands. Mikey on the other hand was struggling to keep the computer away from him. They looked up at Leo, whose hand rose to meet his face.

"Really, guys?"

"Mikey stole my laptop on me!"

"Only because the-!"

Donnie's hand smacked over his brother's mouth. He took the chance and snatched the laptop away. Mikey got up after him, grinning. Donnie quickly wrapped his arms protectively around his laptop and glared at Mikey, then walked back down the hall to his lab.

Mikey looked at Leo, who just shook his head in exasperation and went to the living room to turn on the TV. Mikey took this as a signal and bolted after Donnie.

"Can I see if it feels like water now?"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

As you would expect, living with a house full of brothers wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Especially when you're the oldest, the leader and the strategist, and it doesn't help much when your brothers happen to be fifteen year old ninjas. But once you got the hang of it, it wasn't so bad.

_Until they try to blow each other up again._

Leo smirked at the thought and leaned back, holding himself up with his hands behind him as he sat on the edge of the rooftop. The guys were getting bored and tired of being cooped up for days on end until Donnie would let them even go out, even though most of their wounds had healed and the attack had been a full week and a half ago. Well, you couldn't exactly blame them. It's not very smart or comfortable to have five kids living in the same house at a time and not even allowed to go outside.

But, he'd managed to sneak out anyhow. It wasn't that hard, considering the fact that Raph hadn't come out of his room since the night before, Mikey was playing video games when he left and _completely_ lost to the world, Donnie making who-knows-what in his lab and April was training with Splinter.

"What are you doing out here?"

_Speak of the devil._

Leo turned his head to see April come up behind him. She must have gotten up the fire escape. Splinter's training was proving successful, and now she travelled across the rooftops just like they did. Not like she could travel on the streets anymore, since both the Kraang and the Foot wanted her for some weird reason. She was quite comfortable with it now. Surprising, considering her friends/family were mutant ninjas that live in a sewer and that she was being hunted by both other ninjas and alien robots.

Maybe that's why they had all liked her easily in the first place. Because she was willing enough to look past what she knew what should be real and saw what actually was real. The fact that she just… automatically became friends with them was astounding in itself.

Leo patted the concrete beside him and April came to sit down on the edge, letting her feet hang over the corner. She turned her head to look at him.

"So? What _are_ you doing out here?"

Leo shrugged and leaned back on his palms once more. He looked out over the city, the lights sparkling on the building like stars stuck to the walls. Of course, the amount of light coming from the city tonight wouldn't let you see the stars, but the view was good enough.

"Had to get out of the lair for a bit. The joys of being the oldest brother."

April gave a small laugh.

"I don't know how you do it with those three. Especially Mikey."

"Someone has to be the mature one."

"Only because you don't know how to lighten up once in a while."

Raph's mutter made them both turn their heads to see him plop down beside them. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Speak for yourself. I come out of my room _once in a while_."

Raph scoffed and threw him a look from the corner of his eye.

"Only because your show comes on."

April interrupted before they started arguing again.

"How did you get Donnie to let you go out? He switches on his 'doctor' mode every time he sees you open the bedroom door since the Foot got a hold of you."

Raph waved a hand dismissively and smirked.

"Easy. He was zonked out in his lab again when I left."

Both Leo and April stared at him. Leo sighed.

"Please tell me you did not leave Mikey in there with him."

Raph gave him another look, clearly annoyed at how stupid Leo thought he was making him out to be.

"He was asleep on the table last time I checked."

"Why the table?" April asked. Leo knew it was probably a stupid question to ask. After all, it was Mikey.

Raph shrugged.

"How do I know? It's Mikey. I just came out here 'cause it gets really boring when Spike's asleep."

Leo looked back to the scene in front of them. It wasn't often that he got the time to just sit back and relax. Silence passed for a few moments, and then Leo sighed as he heard the telltale footsteps behind him.

_Okay, did the whole family follow me out here? Is Splinter gonna come too?_

Mikey bounced up beside them, Donnie right behind. The youngest turtle grinned and crouched behind Leo, putting an elbow on his shoulder. Leo looked up at him, not the last bit surprised. After all, where one brother goes, the rest of the gang usually follows. He didn't expect them to stay in the lair for long when the oldest three were out here.

"'Sup, big bro? You guys having a little bonding moment out here or what?"

Leo smirked and raised a brow.

"Oh yeah, because Raphael would totally come out here to have a 'bonding moment' with me and April."

Raph glared at him, which just made the other four laugh. Mikey gave a mischievous grin and squeezed himself to sit between the two oldest.

"So… we just sittin' here?"

"Yes, Mikey. We are just sitting here." Leo sighed, although he still smiled. Mikey groaned and put his chin in his hands.

"Well, that's boring."

Donnie shot Mikey a look and went over, hesitantly sitting down beside April. He had the tiniest of blushes coming to his face, but it quickly vanished as he noticed Leo's look.

Once again, Leo averted his gaze back to the city. It was such a calm night. The weather was nice, the sky was clear and so far, nothing had turned it sour. His family was here to share it with him, all lined up on a single rooftop looking out at the city they called home. And it got even better when Mikey slipped off the roof by accident while he was trying to fix the wrapping on his ankle and hung on by his fingers while the rest of them laughed at the look on his face. But when he climbed back up, he couldn't help but laugh himself.

It was a good night. For all of them. No fights, no sour moods, no Foot, no Kraang… just a soft peaceful silence. It didn't even feel awkward, like it normally would have. All five of them just knew to keep their mouths shut and watch as the cars sped past below, lights flicked on and off all over the place. Leo smiled as he glanced over at Mikey, who for once was dead quiet, just looking up at the sky.

"Woah! Guys, look!"

_Or not._

All of them raised their eyes to see a flock of geese pass over the moon. They could see the outline, and the familiar 'V' shape formation. It had a nice effect. Mikey bounced slightly from where he sat.

"It's so cool, watching them fly! Wish I could fly. Think of all the sweet boarding action I could pull off!"

Then he stopped bouncing just as suddenly. Raph stiffened and followed his gaze. The other three did the same, and then Raph got to his feet slowly.

"Is it natural for geese to have pink lights on their wings?" Mikey asked. Donnie shook his head.

"Of course not. Geese are birds; they don't have lights on their wings."

"Well these ones do." Raph growled.

Leo grabbed the telescope from Donnie where he had it attached to his belt and raised it to his eye. He focused in on the geese and he frowned. Those weren't geese at all. They looked like robots. Humanoid robots with fighter jet wings attached to their backs.

_Oh, shoot._

"It's the Kraang!"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Donnie grabbed the telescope from Leo and put it to his own eye, following the Kraang's movement.

"By the basis of their trajectory and flight pattern, I'd say they were heading for TCRI."

"But we blew up that place." Mikey tipped his head. "Seriously, I'm not even kidding. Leo had the light saber that Justin made out of his swords and then stabbed it into the computer thingy and for once everything just went BOOM."

Raph growled, looking up and watching the Kraang pass by. He whirled around to Leo.

"Well, what are we doing waiting here?! Let's go get them!"

Leo grinned. Raph knew that look. Now that they had their chance to relax, he was ready for a fight. Blow off some steam. In a millisecond, all of their weapons were out and Donnie put the telescope back in his belt.

_PSSSSSSHHHHHHHCK!_

Raph jumped back as the arrow shot past an inch from his face and lodged itself into the top of Donnie's bō. The others whirled around to see the Foot gathering on the adjacent rooftop, Karai in the lead. She was smirking.

"It's not the Kraang you have to worry about."

Raph ripped the arrow out of his brother's weapon and whirled around, flinging it back up at the Foot, his eyes blazing. Karai raised her blade and turned it. The arrow hit the sword and sliced cleanly in half, falling to the side harmlessly. Karai looked up and then jumped back, bracing herself as Leo came for her.

The reaction was instantaneous. The others jumped into the fray and within seconds all you could hear was clashing weapons and yelling. Raph threw a Foot to the ground, deflecting another one easily and glanced over at his siblings.

Mikey was grinning, as usual, swiping his nunchucks across a ninja's face and then kicking him in the gut, driving him back into his comrade. Donnie was beside him, whirling his staff and then lunged out with practiced precision. Leo was clashing with Karai, rage clear on his face. Even April was doing well, holding up her own with her tessen slicing as fast as Leo's katanas.

A blow on the shell brought Raph back into his own fight. He whirled around, his sai in hand. He felt an intense anger rise up inside him. How dare they hit him? How dare they think they could even stand a chance against him? He growled and swiped his sai around, hitting the ninja clean in the side of the head. He meant to leave him to unconsciousness, but something had snapped inside him.

Something was set loose. Like a fiery inferno of anger, it burned inside him, spreading to his limbs and letting the strength of the blaze flow. It clouded his judgment and blurred his vision until all he could see was his soon to be victim. The soon to be dead man.

The sharpened tip of the sai streaked towards the Foot, slicing through the fabric and tearing a gash on his shoulder. Another swipe, and another, and another, tearing open flesh and making the ninja pay for what he thought he could have taken on. Raph panted, his fists clenched. He pulled his sai back, ready to stab it into the man's head and end this.

_What the shell am I doing?!_

His grip relaxed and his arm fell to his side. Raph jumped up, backing away from the bloodied form before him. His eyes grew wide, filled with horror at what he had done. At what he was. Who he was. He didn't lose control like that. Not that badly. Never that badly.

He'd almost killed a man.

He'd almost…

"Raph!"

Raph shook his head quickly and turned around at Leo's yell. He gulped and walked towards his brother. Leo was watching as the Foot retreated across the rooftops. Raphael glanced behind him to see two Foot soldiers picking up their injured comrade and vanish into the night. Leo nodded.

"Good. That lasted longer than I thought it would. Karai was ready for us. She was wai-! Raph! What happened?!"

Raph barely heard him. He was staring at his hands, eyes wide with horror. What did he do? His hands were covered in blood, and none of it, not a single drop of it was his. His breath froze in his chest. Why did it feel so… so wrong? The Foot, Karai, Shredder and the Kraang would all kill them without hesitation, if they had the chance. So why did he feel so horrified with himself? One less Foot to deal with. Wasn't that a good thing?

_No._

Splinter always said that taking one's life was the absolute last option. Raph could have left the ninja. He could have gotten up and jumped back into the fight without a second thought. Normally he would have… Why was this time so different?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Raph shook his head again and looked up. Leo's concerned face swam in front of him. His head throbbed painfully and he noticed his mask was wet. Raph realized he was shaking. And on his knees. Leo slipped his arm under his own and pulled his brother to his feet. Leo looked at Raph, his worried eyes searching his face.

Raphael took a single step and felt the ground sway beneath his feet. His head throbbed again, more painfully than before, and he felt Leo's grip fade away as his knees gave out and the ground rose to meet him.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Because I didn't post for you guys last week, DOUBLE CHAPTER YAYYYYYY!**_

_**Who can tell me who's invading Raph's mind? ;D**_

* * *

Chapter 22

Raph gasped and sat straight up in his bed. A cold sweat covered his face and arms, and he was shivering. He flung his gaze around the room, gradually slowing his breath. The memory snapped back at him, hot and swift. The fight, passing out, the faint feeling of his brother's arms as they helped his half unconscious self back home and into his bed. The fight… he looked down at his hands.

Clean.

_What?_

Raph looked his hands over. Nothing. Not a trace of blood. Had it just been a nightmare?

But as he turned to look at his arm where a blade had caught him, the bandage over it proved him wrong. Donnie must have cleaned him up. A cold fist closed over his heart. The fight had happened. He really did almost kill someone. But why? He never lost it like that. He knew to stop as soon as they couldn't fight back anymore. Splinter had trained them as _ninjas_, not killers.

Suddenly his fist clenched at the thought of his father. If he hadn't trained them, then Raph wouldn't have been able to lose his anger. He wouldn't have been able to take it out on the Foot. This was his fault. He was trained to use his anger to his advantage and he almost killed someone because of it. He'd almost taken a life. Because of Splinter.

_What the shell?!_

That wasn't right! Why was he thinking like this? Splinter was his father and his sensei. If he hadn't trained him the way he had, all four boys would have died ten times over. If he hadn't taught them the way he did, that Foot would have been dead. Even if Raph was trained to use his anger to his advantage, he was also trained how to hold it back. Because of Splinter, Raph and his brothers were still alive. And they knew what they had to protect.

It felt weird caring about the Foot's life. But then again, all of those Foot soldiers were people. Evil, deranged people, but they still had families. They still had people that cared about them, just like he did. That's why Splinter never let them kill. He knew it would affect more than just the Foot Clan itself. It affected all of the people around it as well. As much as Splinter wanted Oroku Saki to leave him and his family alone, and knew that one day Saki would have to die, Splinter still didn't take a life if he didn't have to.

Raph leaned back against the wall, trying to comprehend all of this. His fist was still clenched up. He forced it to relax, and then felt his sudden rush of anger towards his father recede. He took a deep, shaky breath. For the first time in a very, very long time, Raphael felt genuinely afraid. Afraid of his own anger.

_**You should be.**_

Raph flinched and sat up straight. He flung his gaze around. Nobody was in the room.

_**After all, it's your anger that weakens you.**_

He stopped searching. He knew that voice. But that was impossible. He was gone. Splinter defeated him. He'd vanished.

_**Did I? Did I **_**really**_**, Raphael? Think again.**_

The memory flashed back into his head without his consent. Raph was forced to watch. He saw the rats streaming over the body, but then the body was gone. The rodents had taken it with them in their retreat.

_**Exactly. You're smarter than your brothers give you credit for, you know.**_

Raph growled.

"What do you want, you creep? Get out of my head."

_**No, no, I don't think that's going to happen. I have something I need to do first, and it starts with you. You see, you're the source of strength. You make the first blow, give the last and don't back down to anything. Your brothers know this. That's what makes them all **_**weak**_**. See, without you, the strength is gone. Without you, they will fall.**_

"You leave my brothers alone, you filthy-!"

_**It isn't your brothers I'm after. Not all of them. Just one. Without you, their strength is gone. But without **_**him**_**, chaos falls. Because without him, they won't know what to do. They won't be able to plan, to invent. They don't know how to heal properly. Only he does. If you take out the scientist, the doctor, then **_**everything**_** crumbles into a shattered dust. And you all pay for what you did to me. What you took away from me.**_

Raph's eyes went wide.

"Donnie…"

_**Precisely.**_

His green eyes narrowed in the darkness of the room. He flicked the blankets off of his legs and got up, heading for the door.

"I won't let that happen."

_**Oh? And how are you going to stop it? I can see your every thought, your every move. There's nothing **_**you**_** can do that **_**I**_** cannot.**_

Raph pushed open the door and crossed the hallway. He saw Leo out of the corner of his eye, but walked right past him. He couldn't deal with him right now.

"Raph! Are you-?"

"Not now, Leo. I have something I have got to do."

Raphael left his brother looking confused and turned down the hall to the dojo. Splinter's door was shut. Good. Raph walked over to the tree and plopped down beneath it. There was no way he was letting his family be torn.

_No way in heck._

_**Isn't there?**_

Raph shut his eyes, folding his legs like Splinter does and put his hands together. He focused. If Splinter could push him out, why couldn't he do the same? So he focused on shoving his enemy out of his mind, concentrating like he never had before.

_**A weak trick. That isn't going to work. Splinter's mind is complex. His will is much, much stronger than yours. You are going to lose this fight.**_

_You don't know how strong my will can be._

_**Perhaps I do. Perhaps I don't. I do know one thing though. However strong it is or can be…**_

Raph braced himself as his head started to pound. It hurt more and more as Raph tried vainly to fight off the tightening grip on his mind.

_**It's not strong enough.**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**I am SO sorry for not posting this past night! I thought it was Thursday!**_

_**Here it is, anyhow!**_

* * *

Chapter 23

Donnie hummed as he opened his door and walked down the hallway. The wonderful smell of pizza gyoza drifted towards him and it just made him walk faster. He was hungry. It had been a long day, and for the most part, stressful. This whole strange stuff going on with Raph was taking a lot out of them all.

He passed the dojo, but had to stop as something caught his eye. He backed up and peeked inside. Raph was sitting along beneath the tree, his shell towards him. Donnie raised an eyebrow. Raph never meditated. This was really weird, even for him. Donnie walked in, approaching his brother.

"Hey, Raph! It's suppertime. C'mon, you could use a little food after everything."

* * *

Raphael felt a shock go through him at his brother's voice. This was exactly what he did _not_ want to happen! Donnie should have stayed in his room. For once, couldn't it have been Mikey? Or Leo?

_No, no, no! Donnie, you idiot!_

But he felt a surge of joy come from Falco. This is what he wanted. This is _exactly_ what he wanted!

_**Well, well, well… Thank you, Raphael. You've made everything so much easier for me.**_ _**I didn't even have to go looking for him. He came right to me.**_

Raph opened his mouth to warn his brother, but no sound came out.

_Shell._

_**Don't even try. I'm not letting you foil my plans. Now you can watch and see what happens when you turtles mess with the Rat King.**_

* * *

Raph didn't reply, but stayed stock still. Donnie began to grow worried. He usually replied, even if it was angrily. Donnie fidgeted, but then walked forward, reaching out tentatively to place a hand on his brother's shell.

"Raph, are you-?"

The second he touched him, Raphael suddenly whirled around with a fist, flinging Donatello back. Donnie managed to flip and land on his feet. He winced, placing a hand over his plastron where his brother had hit him and stared at Raph in shock.

"What do you want?" Raph snarled. Donnie couldn't speak. The look in his brother's eyes... it didn't even seem like Raph anymore. He couldn't see the indifference, the defiance, the confidence. All he could see in them was absolute _rage_. Donnie didn't know what to say or do. Raph paused for a moment, a small bit of emotion returning to his eyes, but then clenched his fist and turned away, plopping back down onto the floor. Donnie straightened up, starting to get a bit scared. It wasn't like Raph to just... lash out like that.

He knew it probably wasn't a good idea to stay and try again, but if Raph was lashing out because he was hurt, it wasn't like he could just ignore it. Donnie took a small step forward, ignoring the pain from the punch.

"Raph...?"

"Buzz off." Was the reply. Donnie narrowed his eyes.

"Something is wrong. Did you get hurt last night? Is your side bothering you again?"

Raph growled this time.

"I said buzz off, Donatello."

Donnie glared and straightened up.

"Raph, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what-!"

"I said _BUZZ OFF_!"

Donnie gasped and ducked to avoid the kunai that had been whipped at his head. It sank into the opposite wall and stuck there. Donnie flung his gaze back to where his brother stood, fists clenched, eyes narrowed and furious. He had his jaw set and he was panting, although he hadn't done anything. Donnie felt his fear grow. How? How could he be scared... of his own brother?

Raph reached behind him and pulled out his sai.

"You don't know how to listen, do you?"

* * *

_Falco, don't you-_

_**I dare. Oh, I dare. You can't stop me now.**_

_NO!_

* * *

Donnie took a step back, feeling his hand slowly rise behind him towards his staff.

"I was only wondering what was wrong."

Raph gripped his sais even tighter, his eyes narrowing into angry slits. But his lips curled into a small deranged smile.

"The only thing wrong is that _you're still here_!"

Donnie whipped out his staff just in time and blocked the attack, flinging Raph away from him. He spun around and swiped the stick at Raph's legs, knocking him to the ground. But Raph didn't stay down for very long. He was up faster than anything Donnie had seen before, his sai whirling.

He blocked another blow and kept backing towards the doorway. If he could get outside to the other two... No. Raph noticed what he was doing and suddenly rolled beneath him, grabbing the end of his staff and hauling it with him. Donnie yelped as he was flipped onto his shell, and his staff was wrenched out of his grip.

He leaped up and back to avoid a sudden lunge. Donnie panted, holding his hand out beside him, ready to jump away if needed. He couldn't believe this was happening. This wasn't right, this wasn't the Raphael he knew, this wasn't his _brother_. But how could he not be?

His whirling thoughts distracted him for a moment. Enough for Raphael to take his chance.

A sudden and fiery pain snapped in the side of his head. Donnie cried out as he was flung to the ground. He flipped onto his shell and stared up in shock at Raphael. Blood, _his_ blood, dripped off of the tip of the sai. Donnie could feel it running down the side of his head. Raph looked at his sai, and then Donnie saw a snap of fear go through his eyes. His turn.

Donnie leaped up onto his hands and kicked Raph clean in the chest, sending him back. But Raph was faster. He jumped at him. Donnie suddenly found his arms pinned to his sides. Raph had wrapped one arm around him and pinned his arms, immobilizing him. Donnie grunted, writhing in his brother's grip. He froze as he found the tip of the already bloody sai at his throat and felt a shock of terror.

Suddenly he was thrown down and flipped onto his carapace. Donnie snapped his eyes wide to see the tip of the sai barely an inch from his eye. He felt real terror now. It coursed through him like a poison, freezing his muscles and numbing his thoughts.

Raph panted, his left forearm pressed up against Donnie's neck to hold him down, his sai in his right hand, tightening his grip on it. Donnie gulped.

"Raph..."

A flicker of... something... ran across Raph's face. He couldn't pinpoint what it was. Sadness? Regret? Despair? But he didn't get a chance to ask.

Raph leaned back, taking his weight off of him. But before Donnie could jump up, the sai whirled around and smashed into the side of his head, sending him rolling a few feet with the powerful blow. Donnie's head stabbed with pain, and he saw stars. As the dark enveloped Donatello's mind like molasses, he could have sworn he heard a cry.

_DONNIE, NO!_

Another stab of pain, and he saw no more.

* * *

Raph let his sai drop to the ground. His hand shook as he walked over to his now still brother. His breath froze in his chest. What did he _do_? It didn't feel like himself anymore. He'd just lost control… over everything.

He knelt beside Donatello. Gently he grazed his hand over the slice on Donnie's head. He'd managed to regain enough control so Falco _didn't_ stab Donnie straight through the head, but it didn't seem like it had made any difference. Donnie didn't move. At all.

_**A job well done, if I must. You do have your advantages.**_

Raph clenched his fists, standing up and backing away from the devastation he had caused. Tears rose to his eyes. The first tears he had released for as long as he could remember. Anger coursed through him.

_You did this._

_**That is where you are wrong. **_**You **_**did this. It wasn't me that hit him.**_

_You made me do it! YOU made me!_

_**I will take credit for that. Well… Two down. Two to go. But that will go off on its own.**_

_No. No, it won't._

Raph straightened up and grabbed his weapons. He was getting out of here before he did something else he couldn't repay. He wasn't going to hurt the other two.

He had to get out.

Raph turned and ran out of the lair. Leo and Mikey were nowhere to be seen, and for that he was grateful. He ran. Into the sewers, his feet echoing through the tunnels. He let his pain and anger and grief fall from his eyes and he just ran.

_I'm sorry, Donnie._


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"_LEO_!"

Leonardo jumped on the couch at the sudden yell from Michelangelo. He had just begun to doze off, but as soon as Mikey shot out of the hallway, looking terrified, he jumped up and over to him faster than a Kraang's laser. The first thing Leo noticed was the blood on his youngest brother's hands, and he automatically grabbed it and looked at it. Leo averted his eyes to his brother's huge fear-filled blue ones.

"Mikey, what happened?"

"It's Donnie! He's-I just-You gotta come help!"

Mikey ran back down the hall, clearly panicked. Leo felt dread hit the bottom of his stomach and shot after him. He stopped dead at the entrance to the dojo. He stood there for a few moments, frozen in shock at the sight of it.

Donnie's staff lay snapped in half beside the tree. There was blood scattered across the floor, and there was even a kunai still stuck in the wall.

And Donatello himself.

Leo ran forward, dropping to his knees beside Mikey. Mikey was knelt next to Donnie, and tears had started to well up in his eyes. Leo gently pushed his hands aside and looked at his wounded sibling. The pulse was faint when he felt Donnie's neck, but he was alive and breathing. Leo ran his hand over the slice in Donnie's head. It was still warm, and the bleeding hadn't stopped. He gritted his teeth with a curse and leaned down, slipping Donnie's limp arm over his shoulders and pulling him up.

"Mikey, get Sensei. _Now_!"

Mikey nodded and shot back out of the dojo. Leo watched him go and then adjusted Donnie's weight so he could carry him and with some difficulty, carried him out into the living room, laying him on the couch. He managed to lay him flat so it would be easier to tend to more wounds if they were there. Leo gulped. It would be better to wait for Sensei. Because he had little idea of what to do. Donnie and Splinter were the ones that dealt with this sort of stuff, not him. But thankfully, he needn't wait long.

Splinter already had bandages in his hands when he appeared. He wasted no time, but set to work immediately without a word, cleaning Donnie's wounds and covering them. Leo looked over to Mikey as his brother came in. Mikey fidgeted nervously, worried and shifting from foot to foot. Leo looked over to him and then suddenly snapped his head up.

"Mikey, where's Raph?"

Mikey looked over at Leo, confused. He shrugged.

"I dunno. Not in his room."

Leo narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right. Then he looked back at Mikey again.

"Is Spike here?"

His brother looked surprised, and then tipped his head.

"Spike?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, he's here."

Leo nodded, relaxing. If Spike was still here, then it couldn't be that bad. Raph would've taken him with him if he'd gone for long. He looked at his father as Splinter stood up from bandaging Donnie and sat down beside his wounded son's head. He looked at Leo.

"What happened?"

Leo sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know, Sensei. Mikey ran in yelling about Donnie and we just found him in the dojo like this with his staff snapped in half and a kunai stuck in the wall."

Splinter nodded, eyes flicking back to the hall. He met Leo's eyes.

"Find me when Donatello wakes. We must know what happened."

"Hai, Sensei."

Splinter walked off towards the dojo and Leo looked over at Mikey and felt a sting of shock and pity. He could see the scared tears running down his face from here. Leo walked over and pulled him into a hug, which Mikey eagerly leaned into. Within a moment, Leo found Mikey clinging to him like his life depended on it.

He couldn't blame him, really. Donnie had always been the brother that Mikey was closest to. He was his team mate. He was the one that Mikey went to when he had nightmares or problems or anything that he needed help with. Finding him in that state in the middle of their own home must have been a deep blow, especially to his young mind. Leo gently squeezed reassuringly as Mikey's breath hitched and looked down at him.

"S-Sorry."

Leo's eyes widened in surprise at the murmur. He smiled and rubbed his brother's shell. Truth be told, he almost felt like breaking down himself, but… Mikey needed him right now. He needed him to be strong. He needed his big brother.

"It's okay, Mikey."

"I-I just… He just lied there… Like… I thought he was dead." The last phrase came as a whisper. Leo sighed and hugged Mikey tight, continuing to rub his shell comfortingly. He'd done this many times before when Mikey was scared or sad. He'd do it again whenever he needed to as well.

"So did I. But he's gonna be fine. Donnie's gonna be fine, Mikey. He's all patched up and Splinter's already taken care of him. He's just gotta wake up and then it'll be okay."

Mikey nodded and gave a shaky sigh. Leo smiled and led him over to the couch beside Donnie. He sat him down and walked into the hall, returning a moment later with their blankets and Mikey's teddy bear, Mr. Snuffles. Mikey wrapped himself in his blanket, clutching his bear and watched as Leo laid the purple blanket over Donatello. Leo walked back over to Mikey and sat beside him. Mikey was starting to calm down now and placed his head on Leo's shoulder like he used to do. Leo put his arm around him protectively and leaned back, getting comfortable.

"Don't worry about Donnie, Mikey. It'll be okay, you'll see. He's stubborn enough."

Mikey opened his eyes and looked up at him. Leo smirked.

"And he still has inventions he has to finish."

Mikey have a small half-hearted laugh and curled tighter. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath and let it out. Leo closed his own eyes.

"Good night, Mikey."

"G'night, Leo."

A moment passed and then his youngest brother's voice piped up again.

"G'night, Donnie."

Leo couldn't help but smile.


	25. Chapter 25

_**To everyone who keeps wondering, I update every Friday. Sometimes its early, and hopefully its never gonna be late, but I update every Friday, on both deviantART and here.**_

_**Thanks!**_

* * *

Chapter 25

"Donnie… Leo, what happened to him?"

"We don't know, April. He didn't come out for supper, so we kind of assumed he was just working on something. But then Mikey found him out cold on the floor in the dojo with the slice on his head. He hasn't even moved since."

"What about Raph? Any word on him?"

"Still no sign of him. We've been looking every chance we get. But we can't even find a footprint. The thing that's confusing isn't that he's been gone for this long, it's that he left _Spike_ behind."

"But Raph would never leave Spike."

"That's what bothers me."

A soft and surprisingly warm hand ran over his head. Donnie felt a small spark of happiness. He knew that hand. It was April's. She was always so gentle.

"_Leo_! How do I do this?!"

"Mikey, leave Spike alone, he's fine! I fed him this morning."

Leo's voice faded off as he left. _Oh, man…_ his head throbbed. Donnie groaned to himself. A headache like you wouldn't believe. Well, considering _Raph_ was the one that knocked him out, it wasn't really a surprise. But he didn't think that it would hurt this much. Everything sort of ached.

April's soft sigh snapped him back into focus. He slowly blinked open his eyes and had to close them again as the bright lights hit him. His head gave a pained throb, to which Donnie groaned out loud this time, bringing his hand to his head.

"_Ow…_"

He heard April give a small gasp and the weight shifted on his bed as she plopped down.

"Donnie!"

Donnie managed to force his eyes open, letting them adjust to the light for a moment and then looked over at April's half-panicked-half-relieved face. He looked up at the doorway as both Leo and Mikey shot around the corner. Mikey gave a happy yell and clamped onto Donnie's shoulders, whereas Leo ran off again. Donnie slowly pushed Mikey off and sat up, rubbing the bandage on his head.

"How are you feeling?" April asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Donnie smiled and looked back over to her. At least she was calm about it. Sort of.

"Like I got hit by a truck."

Leo returned a moment later with Master Splinter in tow and ran over to Donnie. Leo looked overworried, as usual, his blue eyes flickering over Donnie's face.

"You okay, Don?"

Donnie nodded.

"I'm just happy I still have my head."

Splinter walked over and placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder, gaining his attention. Donnie looked up at his father's concerned face.

"What happened, my son?"

Donnie opened his mouth to reply, but then snapped it shut again. Something inside his head held him back from telling his father the truth. A familiar feeling that he couldn't quite place. It didn't feel right. If he told them, guaranteed they would think that Raph betrayed them. In a way, it was true. But Donnie just couldn't bring himself to crush his family's love for his brother like this. No, it wasn't right. Something else was going on with Raph, and he needed to be sure of what happened.

There was something in the way that Raph had moved, and the look in his eyes that gave Donatello a shiver down his spine. No. That wasn't his brother. Something else was behind this. He needed to find out what. He _had_ to.

"Donnie?"

Leo's voice snapped him back from his thoughts. Donnie gave an embarrassed smile and looked down at his hands.

_Come on, you're the smart one! Improvise!_

"I was training by myself and I tripped over my staff. The kunai went flying and sliced my head open and I ended up hitting my head pretty hard on the floor. Guess I knocked myself out."

Mikey grinned, already finding humor in the situation now that he wasn't scared his brother was going to die.

"I guess the Foot don't need to take us out; we can do it by ourselves!"

Donnie ignored him and looked up at Master Splinter. He didn't look entirely convinced, but none the less, he took his hand away and nodded.

"Next time you must be more careful. I do not wish to lose any of you, especially of your own accord or doing."

"Hai, Sensei." The four children replied. Master Splinter nodded and as he walked away, Donnie sighed and rubbed his head. He figured that if he had gotten a concussion, it would have already passed, so he didn't need to worry. Now he was just _tired_.

He heard Leo clear his throat and he looked up at him curiously. His brother's eyes were narrowed and in that instant, Donnie _knew_ that the bluff hadn't worked on him. He wasn't going to just accept it like Splinter. Not entirely. Leo leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Alright, Donnie. What really happened?"

Both April and Mikey shifted their gazes to Leo, confused. Donnie raised an eyebrow. He had to hold up on his end. At least until he solved something. He felt terrible for lying to his family, but he didn't really have a choice if he didn't want everyone going and trying to hunt Raph down like he was some kind of monster.

"That is what happened. What else would it be?"

Leo kept his stature for a moment, and then sighed, recognizing that Donnie wasn't about to back off. He uncrossed his arms and turned towards the door.

"If you say so. Lie down and get some rest, you look like you're going to pass out again. We're gonna need you back on your feet as soon as you can. We gotta go look for Raph, and you know the best ways to track him."

Donnie's complete attention shot to his brother. He sat back up instantly, unwillingly making April jump back in surprise and grabbed onto Leo's arm, stopping him.

"Raph's _missing_?!"

"Yes. Since we found you in the dojo. But nevermind that. Knowing him, he's fine. Get some rest, bro." Leo murmured, giving Donnie a small pat on the shoulder before turning and leaving the room, leaving the other three looking completely confused.

"Dude…" Mikey muttered. "Leo's _totally_ out of it today!"

"What are you talking about, Mikey?" Donnie asked, flicking his eyes over to his only younger brother. Mikey shrugged.

"Well, he's just been all _weird_. He asked me earlier where Raph was, and when I said he wasn't home, he asked me if Spike was still here. He sorta cooled off after I said yeah, but now, it's like he doesn't think you're telling the truth. I'm telling you, bro, there's something wrong with Leo's brain. Maybe he hit his head too."

Donnie thought over it as Mikey yawned, stretching and rising to his feet.

"I'm gonna go to bed. You comin', April?"

April looked over at him and nodded, standing up herself.

"Yeah, I'm coming, Mikey. Good night, Donnie. Feel better, 'kay?"

"Thanks, April. Good night."

"'Night, Donnie!"

"Good night, Mikey."

Once the two were gone, Donnie sighed and pulled the blankets up to his shoulders. He couldn't stop thinking about what Mikey had said about Leo. He was right. Something was bothering Leo. Donnie ran over the info in his head, staring at the wall and letting his train of thought cruise on. His eyes widened.

_What if Leo… What if he knows? What if he guessed?_ Donnie bit his lip, eyes flicking. _The first thing he's gonna do is go and hunt Raph down. He's gonna think that Raph is a traitor. Well… he's half-right, I guess. But that's not it. I know it's not. Raph wouldn't just attack me like that for no reason._

…_Would he?_

Donnie sighed again and closed his eyes.

_I'll worry about that tomorrow, I guess. I can't really do anything about it now. I try to go find Raph on my own and I'm gonna pass out on my own feet, I'm so tired. Just worry about it tomorrow, Donnie. Like Leo said, I'm gonna have to be on my feet to track him down anyways._

He faded off to sleep, letting his exhaustion take over, and soon the only sound in the lair was the low rumble of Mikey's snoring across the hall.


	26. Chapter 26

_**I am SO SORRY GUYS!**_

_**It was a busy weekend and I couldn't get it up in time, and I didn't have the internet working yesterday either.**_

_**I hope I can get the next chapter posted on time this week.**_

* * *

Chapter 26

_**Where are you going? You can't escape me by running. I will find you anywhere.**_

Raph growled. This guy was seriously starting to get on his nerves.

"I don't need to escape you. You killed my brother. I'm not running away from you."

The tunnel opened up into another much larger one. Raph felt wary. Anything could be in here. They'd found Snakeweed in the sewers, after all. And they thought he was dead. He'd been electrocuted! How did he keep re-growing? Now he was shattered into a million little pieces, and for the record, Snakeweed was the least of his worries at the moment.

Sticking to the shadows, he edged around the middle. Instinct, really. If there was something in here, it wouldn't see him in the shadows. Hopefully not. Raph kept his eyes and ears open for anything.

_**You're following me.**_

_Thank you, Captain Obvious._

"Didn't you figure that one out hours ago? You're the one in my head, reading everything I think of. Thought you would've noticed that before now."

_**I do have better things to do than patrol your inferior mindscape. You are smarter than your brothers give you credit for. But you aren't very hard to read. It was easy to sift through your thoughts and find out what you were doing, even when hours of thoughts had gathered.**_

Raph froze as something skittered out of the shadows on the other side. Then he relaxed. Just a sewer rat. Not as bad as cockroaches. But he knew to be wary of it.

"One of yours?"

_**That one? No. The three stalking you on the pipes above that you noticed two hours ago, yes.**_

"Great. So not only are you slowly making me go insane from sheer annoyance, you're stalking me. _That's_ not creepy at all."

_**And you're 'stalking' me.**_

"I have a reason. You're just doing it for the fun of it."

_**No. There's much more to it than that. Much more.**_

Raph rolled his eyes as he reached up to an overhead pipe. He grabbed onto it, scaring one of the rats back away from his hand, and swung himself up into the side tunnel. A grunt announced his rather rough landing, and he crawled down the tunnel, ignoring the sludge beneath his hands and knees.

_**You doubt me?**_

"No, I'm just mocking you. I'm pretty sure every single 'villain' out there has said that. And they always lose. That's why I'm mocking you, _Falco_."

**Why **_**do you continue to insult me with that name? I am the Rat King now. Victor Falco is dead. I am a new person now.**_

A small smirk let loose some of the devastation he felt. He lost his _brother_. Why did he even bother smiling? But Raph just shook his head and straightened up as the tunnel opened up again. This guy never failed to amuse him with the way he thought so high of himself.

"'Cause it annoys you. That and 'Rat King' sounds like some cheesy comic book character that Mikey would worship."

_**You really believe that simple **_**annoyance**_** will drive me off of my course?**_

Raph lost the smirk and growled again. Now he was starting to annoy _him_.

"No, it just makes me feel better to irritate you. Mikey isn't here to do it."

_**Your plan is flawed. You must know that now. You can feel it. The closer you get, the tighter my grip becomes. You know that when you reach me, you won't be able to fight me off.**_

_Seriously?_

Raph sighed and jumped down onto the next level. He couldn't see where he was going anymore. This part of the sewers didn't have a lighting system. But it didn't matter. He was sure of his feet. He was so used to walking around on the slippery sewer floors that the unfamiliar grounds here didn't bother him. He still felt a stupid wariness in his chest, but that didn't bother him as much as the headache did.

But he had to keep going. He knew he was going the right way because his head started throbbing. He welcomed it, in a sort of unnatural way. The more his head hurt, the closer he got. The closer he got to Falco, the closer he got to solving this. Donnie couldn't be his only target. He had to have a different plan. The tighter Falco's grip got on his mind, the more he could see and figure out. The tighter his grip got, the more of his mind opened up to Raph's. And that he could use to his advantage.

If only the dude would buzz off and leave him alone.

_**So that's your plan. You know, you're smart. But not intelligent. You aren't as smart as you believe you are.**_

"So you can't see what I'm thinking until I think it? Can't you think ahead of me and figure out what I'm _going_ to think?"

_**Don't be naïve. I know what you are thinking. I know what you're doing. I know what you're going to do. But I don't know what you're going to think, because you don't know what you're going to think.**_

"How did you even get in my head anyways? You're the so called 'Rat King'. Turtles aren't rats."

_**I'm going to answer that with a question of my own: How long did you believe it was going to be before I realized I wasn't limited to only rats? I could control every being on the Earth if I felt like it. But holding a grip on multiple minds is much more difficult. **_

"Huh."

Raph peered around a corner. No. Not that way. It felt wrong. He turned left and followed the tunnel. So this is what being blind is like. He couldn't tell the difference between his eyes being open or closed. Is this what Murokami felt like every day? How was he able to cook faster and better than every other chef that _could_ see?! It boggled the mind.

It had to be three in the morning by now. He felt a bit tired, but he was used to this. Falco on the other hand didn't seem so accustomed to the lateness of Raph's excursion.

_**Don't you ever sleep?**_

"Yeah. During the day. We can't exactly go out in broad daylight and walk around the city. What, you thought that I'd be sleeping? Heh. I won't be sleeping for a while."

_**You're bent on revenge.**_

"Not exactly. My reason's better."

_**Is it now?**_

"You _murdered_ my _brother_. I'm not letting that go."

_**Everyone dies eventually. Why not speed up the process?**_

"There are plenty of reasons why. Splinter taught us to never kill unless we have to. He says that every life is worth protecting. Vengeance isn't a good enough reason to kill. That's the thing that you and the Shredder can't get through your thick heads. You don't kill because you _feel like it_. You kill when you have no other choice."

_**Wise words from such a young mind.**_

"I was taught well."

_**I can see that. But you're wrong. Vengeance is plenty of reason.**_

Raph clenched his fists, his annoyance getting the better of him. He looked up into the darkness, eyes narrow.

"If revenge was a good enough reason, then why didn't Splinter go after the Shredder when he lost his family? He lost _everything_. But he didn't go after him. He didn't take a life. Splinter's not trying to hunt Shredder down the way Shredder is hunting him. Splinter didn't even hurt Shredder, and he's being hated and hunted for everything. Shredder _killed his entire family_. Do you see Splinter going after him? No. Because he knows that revenge isn't gonna solve anything."

_**Then why are you hunting me?**_

"Because I still have a reason to. If I don't, you're gonna go after what family I have left. I can't let that happen."

_**What a **_**noble**_** deed. You all overestimate yourselves.**_

Raph shook his head, although he knew nothing was there to see it. Even the rats following him couldn't see him in this darkness.

"No. You underestimate us. It's not noble, either. I don't have it in me for that sort of stuff. Heck, I didn't even think I could get this far. It's not noble. It's called responsibility. I'm supposed to take care of them. I've already failed that much. I'm not failing again."

_**Foolishness.**_

Raph didn't bother replying. He just kept on. And after a while, he became aware of the silence in his head. Even his headache was wearing off. Maybe Falco had gone. After a few minutes longer, and the silence continued, Raph couldn't help but feel a bit relieved. It was late. Or early. Whichever way you put it. He was tired.

The curvature of the wall didn't fit his shell very well. But it worked, at least. Not as comfy as his bed, of course. Raph just leaned against the wall. He hadn't realized that the entire trek had taken so much out of him. Then he remembered. The fight, earlier. That would've made him just as tired as he was now. And then all the walking along with it.

Raph sighed and leaned his head back. He didn't even remember closing his eyes or relaxing. Sleep overtook him in a wave, and silence passed through the tunnels once again.


	27. Chapter 27

_**This one is early because I don't think I'm gonna get a chance to post it tomorrow.**_

* * *

Chapter 27

The only sound in Leo's room was his own breathing and then a sigh. Leo lay on his bed, staring up at the Space Heroes poster on his ceiling. There was this nagging feeling in his chest that he just couldn't shake off. It felt like something was wrong. Something didn't add up.

What, he didn't know. And he could _not_ figure it out.

It was after training. Leo told everyone to take a short break before patrol. They were going out to look for Raph again. He had gone missing and _stayed_ missing since they found Donnie in the dojo, and that was three days ago now. But Spike was still here. Raph would never leave Spike behind if it was his own decision. So Raph should be coming back.

_Guess what, Leo? Keyword: _should.

Raph would never leave Spike behind. Not if he meant to stay away. But… why would he leave in the first place? Sure, he'd grown moody and stuff lately, and had these passing out spells, but he didn't actually need to _leave_ over it.

And then there was the situation with Donatello. It didn't make sense. Donnie was amazingly controlled with his bō staff. He used it for so much stuff, it seemed insane that it was just a stick. Such a simple weapon, but so _powerful_ in Donnie's hands. He usually never missed a beat with it. It didn't seem possible that Donnie could trip over it. Anyone else? Sure. Donnie? Absolutely freaking not.

And how the shell did he manage to split his head open with a kunai? For one, it had been stuck in the wall, and for two, kunais don't ricochet like shurikans do. And the angle of entry was wrong. It seemed like it was thrown from across the room. And he couldn't knock himself out easily on the floor of the dojo. Donnie could take a hit to the head by a mutant dog, but not a bump on the floor? Not a chance. Unless Donnie meant to hurt himself… No, he wouldn't do that. It's Donnie. It just didn't make sense.

Leo narrowed his eyes, not even seeing the poster anymore. All he saw was his brother's injured head. And Raph's absence.

_Raph's gone missing. Donnie turns up with his head split open and knocked out on the ground._

_Raph…_

Leo's eyes widened slightly.

_Raph runs away and leaves Spike behind. For no apparent reason. Not long after we find Donnie out cold on the floor with a bloody slice across his head. As if he'd been attacked. But he protests and says it was an accident._

_Donnie lied?_

Donnie never lied. Not often, anyways. When he did, it was with good reason. So why would he lie now? Unless he was protecting something.

Someone.

_Wait a second…_

This time Leo's eyes snapped wide.

_No way. There's just… Oh man! Why didn't I see it _before_?!_

Leo leaped up from his bed, snatching his katanas and sheathing them over his shoulder. He'd need them if what he thought was right. But he prayed he was wrong. It couldn't be. But he knew… deep in his gut, he knew. If he was wrong, he'd snap his katanas in half and never call himself a ninja again.

The blue masked brother burst out of his room and took one look down the hall and instantly knew where Donnie was. The door to his room was closed. He only closed the door when he was working and didn't want to be disturbed.

_Tough luck. I need answers._

Leo opened the door and found Donnie at his desk, drawing up blueprints for some new invention. As Leo approached, he looked up and leaned back in his chair, placing down his pencil on the desk and stood up.

"Is it time to go already?"

Leo shook his head once, his face emotionless.

"No."

Donnie slowly started to look confused. He raised a brow.

"Did Mikey break something again?"

"No."

Donnie switched from confused to annoyed awfully fast.

"What is it then? I have stuff to do."

Leo suddenly felt awkward. He should believe Donnie. He was his brother. He wouldn't lie to them over something as serious as this… would he? The awkward feeling vanished as fast as a Kraang laser when his eyes caught the bandage on the side of his head. This was a lie that endangered everyone and almost got Donnie killed. It couldn't go on. Leo met Donnie's eyes, a slight glare in his own.

"What _aren't_ you telling me?"

"What do you mean? I told you what happened, Leo." Donnie protested. But Leo could see a slight worry in his eyes, as much as he tried to hide it. So. Donnie wasn't a good liar after all. But Leo shook his head.

"No. You didn't. There's something you are not telling me, Donnie, I can see it on your face. You can't exactly slice your head open with a kunai and get it stuck in the wall and then snap your stick in half by tripping on it."

Donnie looked a bit offended. Leo could've sworn he heard a mutter that sounded strangely like 'Bō staff, not stick…' He opened his mouth to prove Leo wrong, of course, but Leo cut him off.

"Don't say it, Donnie. I know it was Raph. I want to know what happened."

Donnie's face blanked and then went very pale. Apparently he wasn't expecting Leo to figure it out. But Leo's suspicions were correct. Donnie's hand fell and he plopped back down in his chair with a small groan.

"I thought I'd have more time before you figured it out…" he muttered, lifting half of the pile of papers on his desk and pulling out a blank one, picking up his pencil again. Leo snapped and let his anger out in a yell.

"Are you _insane_?! You don't just hide stuff like this, Donnie! You could've been killed!"

Donnie flung his face towards his brother's with a glare.

"I had to, Leo! I knew you'd freak out like you are now!"

Donnie started drawing furiously on the paper, much to Leo's confusion. Donnie kept talking as he drew, not giving Leo a chance to speak, which was very unlike him.

"I didn't want you to freak out. Cause I didn't want you to go after Raph. There's something seriously wrong with him. I don't know what, and I can't figure it out, but something isn't right. I've seen it before, I just don't know _where_. When he started to fight with me, he had this weird look in his eyes. Almost like Leatherhead, when he gets set off. All I could see was anger. It was like someone had ripped away the sarcasm and indifference and just left all this _rage_. It was like he hated everything. Hated me. That's what scared me."

Leo rubbed his head with a sigh, starting to calm down. He looked at Donnie, almost looking concerned.

"So Raph has something like Leatherhead? Some… second mind?"

Donnie shook his head, but didn't look up.

"Not exactly. But there is something else going on here. And I need to figure out what. That's why I didn't tell you. I knew you'd freak out and try to go after Raph before I got a chance to explain."

Leo clenched his fists, glaring at Donnie, and then exploded.

"Yeah, I'm gonna _freak out_! He attacked you, Donatello! He tried to _kill_ you!"

Donnie suddenly whirled around, snatching the straps over Leo's plastron with surprising speed and hauling him down so Leo's eyes were level with his own. Leo was shocked speechless at the furious look in Donnie's eyes.

"_Listen to me, Leonardo_! If Raph wanted me dead, _I'd be dead_. Nothing would've stopped him. Except himself. Whatever the shell it is that took over, he fought it off long enough to hold back and stop himself from driving the prong of his sai into my head. He didn't try to kill me, he saved me from whatever it is that has him in a chokehold."

Donnie let go of the straps, suddenly looking exhausted. Leo felt a sting of shock. Had Donnie even slept lately? The purple masked turtle leaned on his desk with a sigh.

"At first, I thought it was Raph. But something… I can't really explain it. Right before he hit me and knocked me out, I heard him. He screamed. Not out loud, but… I heard him. It was like his mind was in my head." Donnie looked up at Leo, his eyes hard again. "He's hurt. Whatever or _whoever_ is messing with him is hurting him somehow. I could hear it in his voice.

"Now, I'm going out to look for him and find out what the shell is going on and see what I can do to stop it. If you want to come, fine, but whatever you think, Leo… It isn't his fault."

Donnie grabbed the paper from his desk that he had been drawing on and shoved it into Leo's hands. Leo slowly unfolded the crumpled paper and stared at the drawing. He gaped at it and looked back up at Donnie, once again amazed at his artistic skills that he kept hidden.

"You weren't kidding…"

Donnie shook his head, pointing to the paper. On it was an incredibly specific drawing of an eye. Just a single eye, but you could easily see what Donnie meant. Even in this short sketch, he'd managed to incorporate all of the emotions and examples that he had listed.

Donnie curled his hands together.

"I've gone through every possible solution. All of them involve finding Raph."

Leo nodded, folding the paper and placing it on the desk.

"Then let's get going."

* * *

_**We all knew Leo was gonna figure it out eventually. Come on, it's LEO for Pete's sake.**__**  
**_

_**Next week... ANOTHER MIKEY CHAPTER!**_

_**That should be interesting.**_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Both of them whirled around at Mikey's voice. Mikey dropped down from the hallway ceiling and looked over to his left. April popped up from the side of the door. She pushed her hair back behind her ear and they both walked into the room. Leo seemed a bit surprised, but not quite as much as Donnie.

"How long have you guys been listening?" Leo asked, eyes narrowing slightly. April glanced at Mikey, smiled, and placed a hand on her hip.

"Since you walked in. Mikey felt something was up. And by the looks and sounds of it, he was right."

Mikey grinned. For once, he had done good. And he was right! It wasn't often that happened. Especially with him! Suddenly he poked April in the side to gain her attention and nodded towards her pocket, his grin growing wider.

"Show them what we found!"

April started as if she'd forgotten and reached into her pocket, pulling out her T-Phone and flipped it so the other two turtles could see. On the screen, a small yellow map had been pulled up. It zoomed in as April gently pushed a button and a single red dot lit up the screen, without any other colors in sight. Donatello looked a bit impressed.

"Wow. You two are ahead of us already."

To Mikey's great surprise, Leo slapped his hand to his forehead with a sigh.

"I _have_ to remember we have that thing on our phones. We could have been using it this whole time!"

Mikey grinned and bounced excitedly on the spot as Leo pulled out his own phone and opened up the map. Donnie did the same and then grabbed his staff from there it was leaning on his desk. However, his eyes held a wary curiosity that caused Mikey to halt his excited hopping out of pure confusion.

"I have a weird feeling about this, guys."

All three of them looked at him. Leo raised a brow, his hand falling with his phone in it.

"How come?"

Donnie looked at him and then shook his head with a shrug.

"I have no idea. I just… I just do."

Leo gave him a look and didn't move for a moment, but then turned and led the way out. He glanced down at the tracker on his phone again.

"He isn't moving. If we can get going fast enough, maybe we can catch up to him before he runs off again."

The remaining three followed after him. Mikey darted quickly into his room and grabbed his nunchucks from his bed. A quick whirl and they were snug and tight in his belt. He grinned and raced back out into the hall, running for the living room, but froze instantly as he passed Raph's door. Mikey peered back into the room, able to see without turning the light on. The sight wasn't a happy one.

Spike's small form lay on Raph's bed, retracted into his shell next to his pillow. Mikey immediately felt a small stab of pity. Out of all of them, it was Spike who had the hardest go. He must be missing Raph more than anymore. Mikey sighed and walked into Raph's room (a daring feat he wouldn't even consider if Raph was home) and picked up the smaller turtle around the middle. Spike slowly peeked out to see what was going on and met Mikey's gaze. Mikey smiled and scratched his chin with a finger. His smile grew ever wider as Spike half closed his eyes and leaned into it a little. He was kinda like a puppy, just… reptile style.

The orange banded teenager ran his finger over Spike's small scaled head, not letting his smile drop.

"Don't worry, Spike! We'll find Raph for ya. I promise."

As soon as Mikey stopped petting him, Spike just retreated back into his shell. As much as Mikey tried, he would not come out again. Mikey frowned, but then brought him up close to his face. He peered at Spike, unable to see his hidden face in the darkness, but smiled nonetheless.

"Tell you what, little dude. If we don't find Raph tonight or tomorrow, every time we go out after that, you can come with us and help look. If anyone can find him, you can. I will buy you pizza and lettuce every day until Raph comes home. But you're sharing it with me, because you can't eat a full pizza to yourself."

Mikey suddenly tipped his head and lowered Spike gently back onto the sheets, beside the pillow where he would stay warm. He gazed at him for a moment and then smirked.

"Now I know why Raph talks to you so much. It's gotta be like, there-a-puke-tick or something. Whatever the word is. Talking to people who can't talk back. Made me feel better anyways. Catch you later, Spikester!"

One last pat on the shell was Mikey's goodbye and he bolted back into the living room, remembering where he should be. Leo stood halfway up the stairs, with April and Donnie above him on the landing, all three looking exasperated and impatient. Mikey ran up and flipped up the stairs, landing beside Donnie. Leo raised a brow.

"What were you doing in Raph's room _this time_?"

"Giving Spike a pep talk."

Clearly that wasn't the answer he'd been expecting. All three of them gave him a look, and Mikey shrugged. Donnie sighed, shook his head and climbed up the steps without a word.

"What?" Mikey asked, bouncing up behind him.

"You do know you can never tease him about talking to Spike again, right?" Leo pointed out in Donnie's turn, coming up behind Mikey with April. Mikey laughed.

"Yeah, I can!"

April looked a bit confused.

"How do you figure that?"

Mikey turned and grinned, but Donnie, catching on, stopped and looked back and cut in.

"He thinks that whatever Raph doesn't know, he can't pound him into the ground for."

Mikey nodded and bounced up in front of Donnie. April shook her head with a half amused smile and followed them out. She opened the map on her phone again and looked at it.

Let the search begin.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't a prying mind or a headache that woke him. It wasn't the rats crawling over his shell or the cockroach that had found a bit of warmth in the crook of his elbow and decided to stay there. It wasn't even the water dripping down on his face, cold and wet. It was the beeping.

Raph groaned and covered his ears, squeezing his eyes tighter.

"Donnie! Shut off the fire alarm, I'm trying to sleep!"

No response came, and the beeping continued. Forced to open his eyes, Raph stared onto at the dark. Huh. He realized he was lying on concrete and not his bed, and that hard shell at his elbow wasn't Spike… He realized what it was when he felt the antennae move and leaped back with a rather girly screech.

_Oh, thank goodness Mikey isn't here to hear that. I'd never live it down._

Shuddering as he heard the cockroach skitter away into the darkness, his attention turned back to the beeping. What the heck was it? It took a moment, but then he realized it was coming from his side.

His T-Phone.

Raph flicked it out of his pocket and was surprised to see light for the first time in a day. The screen was already lit up, and he recognized the app at once. It was Donnie's tracker. The only thing on the screen right now was a single red dot. His own. Huh.

He zoomed out and felt a stab of shock. Four dots, blue, purple, yellow and orange, were all grouped together. The blue and purple dots were so close they were touching, overlapping each other. Leo must have Donnie's phone… But that wasn't the issue. They were headed in his directi0n. He knew at once what was going on. They were looking for him.

_Idiots!_

His arm drew back to whip the phone at the wall, but he hesitated. Raph's brow contracted and he brought the phone back around to stare at the screen. He knew for a fact that this was his only way home if he got lost. This would probably be his only light source for a while. It was as of right now, his only link with his family.

But keeping it endangered them. They'd follow the tracker to him, and then Falco would use him to hurt them. Or they'd just attack him. Leo would. If he figured out that it was _Raph_ that killed Donnie, he wouldn't hesitate. Leo didn't take traitors lightly. Then again, Leo didn't take anything lightly.

As much as he'd enjoy showing Leo once again who was the best if it was just for fun, just playing around, he wasn't going to stay around and take the risk that Falco'd hurt someone else. Sure, in the dojo, just for a little playing around to spend the time and let off some steam, he wouldn't hesitate to take on Leo. But in a serious fight, in the middle of a dark tunnel with Leo having the upper hand because of his grief? No. He'd seen Leo fighting like that before, and Raph had to admit, in a situation like that, no, even he couldn't take Leo down.

Leo's heart had to be the most confusing thing on the planet. In a fight, his care for his family gave him his strength, and his weakness. He wouldn't sacrifice his brothers for anything. And when they were in a seriously horrible situation and one of his bros was on the line? Leo was like a mix of a tornado and a hurricane. You could not take him down if he got _that_ mad. He'd do anything for his brothers, and they knew it.

Raph sighed and shook his head. If Leo attacked him, he'd have to defend himself, and he'd end up hurting another brother. He couldn't do that.

He placed the phone on the ground in front of him, the screen still lit up. In an instant, his sai was in his hand. He drew it up high and lunged forward, aiming to destroy it before his brothers and April found him.

The tip of his weapon stopped an inch away from the screen.

_**I would rather you not.**_

His head gave a huge throb and Raph cried out, holding the sides of his skull. He groaned and his sai dropped from his hand.

"Stop… it…"

_**Stop trying to push me out, you foolish terrapin. It isn't going to work. I need that phone. They track you and it makes it so much easier…**_

Fear turned to panic. Raph gulped a breath and panted. If Falco let Leo and Mikey and April find him…

Suddenly his eyes narrowed. This wasn't him. _Come on, Raph!_ He wasn't ever scared. It was his job not to be. What kind of turtle was he? No, he could do better than this.

_**What? What are you doing?**_

Raph grimaced and pulled his hands away from his head, climbing to his feet. He regained enough control earlier to hit Donnie with the handle. He could regain enough control now to-

_**To crush the phone? Ha. I don't think so.**_

He couldn't help it. He yelled and dropped again to his knees, his hands at his head.

_**What are you to do now? You don't move unless I say so. You don't go anywhere. You're like my little pet, without a single will or privilege to do anything. Splinter was a rat. Kin. My brethren. You're a simple creature, easy to control, easy to replace. Almost like a slave. That's it, a pet slave turtle. Wonderful, isn't it?**_

_Pet? Slave? _Excuse_ me?_

_That_ did it.

Raph growled, clenching his fists and grabbing his sai. He wasn't going to be controlled or tortured by a low life in a sad broken down Halloween costume. Nu-uh.

Ignoring the pain and pushing it off as much as he could, Raph got to his shaky knees. He could feel Falco beating his mind, fighting and _winning_ for control.

One chance…

_Now!_

_**NO!**_

Raph suddenly found his sai at his own throat.

_**You try that again and I will destroy you by your own hand.**_

_No you won't._

_**No? You've done your use.**_

_You need me._

_**Oh, DO I now? No, you **_**foolish**_** creature. The only reason I'm keeping you alive now is to pay off a debt I owe. It would be so easy to dispose of you and take another. Because I know for a fact that there are three more easily conquered minds coming towards you that would do just as well to pay off this owing. **_

"Well then you better find a replacement!"

Raph ripped his weapon away from his throat and launched both of them at his phone, which still lay on the floor. He heard Falco scream in anger as both tips smashed through it easily, snapping the T-Phone into three pieces and leaving it sparking and sputtering on the floor. Raph panted, feeling exhausted and oddly satisfied.

_**Happy, are you?! Let's see how contented you are when I finish with you!**_

It wasn't his doing. Raph stared in horror as he leaped forward, snatching up his sai and clutching them in his fists, and running off into the tunnels. He wasn't doing this. He felt like a puppet, unable to move, unable to even control his own eyes. He wasn't even in control of his own breaths anymore.

Falco used his body to run off into the tunnels. It took a few moments for Raph to realize where he was headed.

_No… NO!_

His tormentor paid no mind. Raphael felt the cold dread building inside him.

Falco wasn't going to kill him.

He was going to kill them.

_Not on my watch, you filthy creep!_

With one last violent attempt, Raph forced his feet sideways. He stepped and the ground wasn't there to hold him. He wasn't expecting it, either. A yelp drove itself from his throat and Raph fell, expecting it to be a four foot drop like a containment wall.

It wasn't.

He fell for about five seconds before his head smashed onto the concrete below. An explosive pain burst through his head and Raph gasped, rolling onto his carapace before he heard Falco once again.

_**You fool.**_

And then he was gone.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Leo walked beside Donnie, his face calm and collected. He kept glancing over at his brother to make sure they were still on the right track. They'd been walking for an hour already, and it seemed like they were getting close. Well, that's what Donnie said anyways. Donnie had barely spoken the whole trip. The only thing he said was 'It's this way.' or 'We're getting closer now.' He was silent, his eyes stuck on the screen of his phone.

Mikey, on the other hand… Not so much.

"I always knew Raph was more of a troll than a turtle. It's so _dark_ down here!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Leo smiled a little at Mikey's attempt to break the silence and lift everyone's mood. But he was telling the truth. The only light there was down here came from their phones and April's flashlight. It was dark and silent and a bit creepy. Like some horror movie or a scary game.

Which Mikey was kind enough to point out.

"There could be anything down here! Chainsaw killers, zombies, monsters… It's like a sewer version of Slender! Next thing you know, we're all wrapped in tentacles and the creepy dude is _right there_!"

Leo looked over at Donnie as he piped up, a bit annoyed.

"Mikey, there are no monsters down here and I highly doubt that a faceless man in a tux would hang around in a sewer like this."

In the dim light, Leo saw Mikey stick out his tongue. But Donnie didn't see. He had his face so close to the phone that his breath was fogging up the screen. Leo sighed and opened his mouth to tell him to just relax, but Donnie suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the screen.

"No, no, _no_!"

Leo turned around and narrowed his eyes.

"What happened?"

His brother's stricken face rose up to look at him. Even in the dim light of the phone, he could see the shock clearly etched on Donnie's face.

"The tracker… Raph's tracker! It's gone! It just went dead, it vanished!"

Leo grabbed the phone and stared at the screen. Sure enough, only four dots remained on the map. Leo bit his lip.

"Did his phone die?"

Donnie shook his head, looking slightly offended.

"What use is a tracker if it goes off when the phone dies? No, my trackers are designed to keep functioning whether the phone is turned off, dead or even water damaged. The only way for it to go out is if the tracker itself is destroyed."

_So his phone is destroyed… Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better._

April looked towards the dark tunnel, her eyes curious.

"Well, why don't we keep going? We know around where it was. If we can find it, we'll be able to figure out what happened to it."

With that said, she walked off down the tunnel, her flashlight beam leading the way. Mikey bounced after her, leaving Donnie and Leo to catch up. Leo looked over at Donnie. He was slowly getting a helpless look in his eyes, but as they caught up with the other two, it switched abruptly to a stubborn determination. The blue masked mutant held back a sigh.

His second youngest brother was seriously convinced that after finding Raph, he'd be able to solve it. Leo knew that from the start, Donnie thought he could learn anything. Solve any problem; make anything his mind could invent. Raph may have a temper and be stubborn with orders, but when it came to actual stubbornness, Donnie took the ribbon for that one. No other being on the planet could've come close to building the things Donnie's built in the time span that he did.

Metalhead was built in a few hours. The patrol buggies were a bit longer, but still. Whenever Donnie built, you knew it wouldn't take him long. No other mechanic on Earth could've had the patience or the stubbornness to just keep going.

This was a new challenge for him. Donnie was always the one that fixed stuff. Raph's sai, their wounds, their phones… everything. He fixed. It's what he did. But Leo feared silently that this might not be something that Donnie could fix alone.

But of course, he wouldn't tell him that.

Leo was jerked out of his thoughts by Mikey's yell. Immediately he quickened his pace and skidded to a stop next to his youngest brother, who knelt by the wall, bathed in April's flashlight. Mikey looked up at Donnie, who knelt down next to him. Donnie's face went blank, and then creased with confusion and frustration.

He turned around and looked up at Leo. It took one glance to know the phone was destroyed. But that wasn't what Donnie was frustrated about. Leo had already seen the mirror stab marks in the screen that had destroyed it. He narrowed his eyes.

"He destroyed the tracker himself."

Donnie nodded, pulling his bag from his shoulder and placing the remains inside.

"Raph must've seen us going after him. Either he doesn't want to be found, or the thing inside him doesn't-…"

Donnie's eyes went wide. Leo whipped around to see a naked tail like a worm vanish into the dark. Mikey took a step back towards April, and the girl grimaced in disgust. Donnie took a breath, and opened his bag, looking at the phone, and back to the place where the rat vanished.

His face blanched.

"Leo."

"I know." Leo replied instantly.

This wasn't good. If he was the one that took over Raph… and then attacked Donnie… and broke the phone… This just got a heck of a lot more complicated.

Mikey bit his lip.

"We talking about who I think we're talking about?"

All four of them looked at each other. The older three nodded, and all of them replied at once, with a sigh hidden underneath each despairing voice.

"Falco."

"The Rat King."

April raised an eyebrow and looked over at Mikey, who shrugged, trying to look innocent.

"Hey, all the villains got a name. Not my fault it's a stupid one, I didn't name him!"

Leo shook his head, raising a hand to his face. Sometimes, Raph was right in calling them all dorks.

Suddenly Donnie stiffened.

"You guys hear that?"

All four of them went deathly quiet. Nothing but the water dripping reached their ears for a few moments, until a sharp yelp made them all whip around. Leo felt his heart beating fast in his chest, and a single word escaped his lips.

"Raph."

He heard Donnie shove the phone back into his bag and then Leo bolted, throwing a yell over his shoulder.

"_Come on_!"

* * *

He groaned and brought his hand up to his head. Oh man, that hurt. Shell.

_**That didn't take as long as I thought it would. Welcome back to the land of the waking, Raphael.**_

The turtle jumped and snapped his eyes open, sitting up instantly. He growled, looking around into the darkness, but finding no light.

"Who's there? Who are you?"

_**What-you don't remember…?**_

He narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists and getting to his knees. Silence for a moment.

_**No. None of the memories are there! Argh, you stupid turtles!**_

"Tell me who you are!"

_**This is pitiful. But… but perhaps… yes, this will work nicely.**_

This voice, in his head… It was making him angry. No answers came from him, so he climbed to his feet and reached out a hand into the darkness. A cold concrete wall met his touch and he looked up, reaching as high as he could, but the concrete didn't cut off.

Wait a second…

_How did I get down here?_

_**You fell.**_

"Well that was dumb." He found himself replying, although not really meaning to. Voices in your head weren't exactly the greatest sign of sanity.

_My head…_

_Me._

_Me!_

It took a moment for the thought to settle, and then his face fell, his hand falling from the wall in shock. He didn't know who he was. There was no 'me' here. He didn't know his name, his home, anything. He couldn't remember anything.

No, that wasn't right. The voice had called him something when he woke up…

"Hey! Creepy bodiless voice dude. What'd you call me?"

_**Oh, this is annoying. But useful… Raphael. Your name is Raphael.**_

_Raphael, huh? _

_**Your brothers called you Raph.**_

_Brothers?!_

"So you know stuff about me." Raph stated, sitting back down onto the concrete. Might as well get some answers if he was stuck down here.

_**A bit.**_

"Alright then. What'd you mean by brothers?"

_**Heh. They are your brothers no longer. They attacked you, turned on you, and drove you down here. They betrayed you. You fell and hit your head. But they don't care. They're searching, though. I can feel them. Looking for you… to finish what they started.**_

"Doesn't sound like brothers to me." Raph snarled.

_**No, they aren't. They are useless. Evil. Vermin that don't care. **_

A strange feeling welled up in Raph's chest. Brothers didn't betray each other like that. He recognized the feeling at once. Hatred. He was angry. Furious.

Vengeful.

"Who are you?"

_**My name is the Rat King. Me and a friend of mine have been trying to take care of you since your brothers turned bad, but you got… interrupted on the way here. The way back up is quite simple, if you'll allow it. You don't exactly have a choice, though, on that matter.**_

_Rat King? Wow. Stupid name._

Raph suddenly looked up. Light was shining from the floor above. He could see the corner. It was only about ten feet or so. And the walls here were relatively close. Wouldn't be that hard to jump up. But then he heard voices. Urgent voices, angry voices.

_**They are here.**_

"Alright. So what do I do?"

_**Feel beside you. You have weapons, and you know how to use them.**_

His hand scraped over the floor and hit something metal. He picked it up and felt it, grabbing the handle instinctively. Sais. Huh. That's weird; he knew what his weapons were but not his name.

_**Jump up and be ready. You must finish them before they finish you. I am your teacher now. Understood?**_

"Sure."

_**Good. Now… finish them.**_

* * *

Leo panted, stopping on the middle of the tunnel. This is where the cry had come from. But he wasn't here.

The others ran up behind him, the light bobbing with their steps. Leo looked back, his face uncharacteristically angry.

"I heard him! I know I did, it was him!"

Donnie raised his hands.

"I heard him too, Leo, calm down. We just have to find him so we can end this."

* * *

_**See? They don't care. And neither should you.**_

"I don't." Raph snarled, his fists clenching around his sai.

_**Now.**_

A strange feeling took over Raph's mind, blinding him and sending a shock of fear through his chest. He wasn't in control anymore, not of his actions, or of his thoughts.

_**I'll take care of this.**_

* * *

Mikey groaned, leaning against the wall.

"Never liked playing hide and go seek with Raph. He always cheated."

April shot Mikey a look, and he closed his mouth. Donnie was pacing, hands on his head, concentrating, trying to figure stuff out. But he didn't say a word, and neither did Leo.

In fact, the first sound was Mikey's yell.

A blur of green and red shot from the ledge below and tackled Mikey, sending him to the ground in a whirl of metal. Mikey screamed in shock and then pain as Raph whirled his sai and sliced it across his shoulder, leaving a bloody gash.

Leo reacted immediately. Brother or not, he had to protect his siblings. He unsheathed his katana and went straight for Raph, but his brother leaped up first and hit him head on, punching him in the chin and kicking him away. Leo landed on his shell and gasped, rolling out of the way of another blow.

Donnie swung his staff with incredible speed and hit Raph head on. The enraged mutant fell to the floor, and then he was back on his feet and glaring. Donnie took a step back, and the whole scene froze for a second.

Leo stared, lying on the floor on his shell. Mikey held his hand to his shoulder, frozen in shock at the sight and speed of the sudden attack. April was off to the side, immersing the whole scene in light, and Donnie stood, staff ready, face set but surprised. And then there was Raph. He was in a total outrage, fists clenched, teeth bared, his eyes filled with hate and anger and malice. He didn't seem like the brother he had been at all.

And then Donnie slammed the end of his staff down beside him like Splinter did when he wanted attention. Raph snapped his gaze towards him, and Leo immediately noticed the look in Raph's eyes. Memories flashed back, to their fight with Splinter, the fight that was the hardest thing they'd ever done. The same look... And Donnie spoke, angrily, forcefully, and pleading.

"Raph, enough. This isn't you; this is what Falco wants you to be. You're my big brother! Snap out of it."

Leo didn't know what was scarier. The fact that Falco had taken over his brother and almost killed Donnie, or Raph's reply.

"No! You're lying to me! You betrayed me! You drove me down here! You're no brother to me, and I am not a brother to you."

And then he was gone, vanished into the dark. Leo stared at the empty space for a second, then got up and sheathed this katanas. He saw Mikey getting up, and Donnie sheathing his staff. Leo looked to Donnie, and saw his confusion and hurt clearly reflected on his face.

"What's he talking about? We didn't…"

"It's not him." Donnie whispered. "It's not. It's Falco. Somehow he's convinced Raph that we're the bad guys."

"How?" Mikey asked. "Raph knows we didn't-"

"Did you see the bruise?" Donnie snapped. "He hit his head. If it was hard enough, Raph could've temporarily lost his memory. That would be the perfect chance for Falco to implant fake claims in his head. Raph seriously thought we were the bad guys here."

"I can tell." Leo muttered, rubbing his chin. "So what do we do?" It felt weird, asking that. Usually he was the one being asked.

Donnie glared into the darkness, angry, furious, and hurt.

"You go to the source and cut it and nothing can function anymore. So that's what we're gonna do.

"We're gonna find Falco. We're gonna beat him. And we're gonna get Raph back."

* * *

_**END OF PART ONE**_

_**Okay, so Part Two will be up soon. I don't know when, but hopefully soon.**_


End file.
